You know, deck them halls and all that stuff?

Christmas time is HERE.


That is nuts! Nuts, I tell you!!!

Chestnuts roooasting on an open firrrre... (Imagine Nat King Cole's voice, please. Instead of yours. Or mine.)

(Seriously, it makes for a much nicer reading experience.)

(Promise!)

Speaking of Mr. Cole, he's got a leading role in many of my most prominent childhood Christmas memories. During the week of transition between Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mom would start playing his songs in the mornings and evenings while we went about our business. Vince Guaraldi, Andy Williams, Manheim Steamroller, and other classics also serenaded us as we eased ourselves into the final part of each year. Yes indeed, I grew up on the good stuff. :)

We're creatures of habit, my family and I. We find our groove, and we just...keep on grooving. The same decorations lit up our house every year. We always had a fresh tree, with the same red and gold balls. We watched the same holiday movies - Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Frosty the Snowman. We always got to open one gift from under the tree, one pair of new pajamas, and a new book on Christmas Eve.

And on Christmas morning, Julie was always usually the first one to pop out of bed and look at what everyone got.

And you know what? We loved it. We loved our traditions, from the three wise men searching for the babe across our entertainment center, to the handwritten "thank you for the cookies" card from Santa on Christmas morning.

And you know what else?

I miss all of that.

So on account of being terribly pathetic and whining about how I'm all "married" and stuff this year -

Fact: Married people simply cannot go about their little houses quoting random lines from Linus and Charlie Brown when their partners-in-marriage have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. It gets a lot embarrassing in not a lot of time, when there's just the two of you.

- I decided to just be super duper ooper mooper Christmassy and get all that whining crap right out of my system.

Because how are you supposed to go around being all holly and jolly and joyful and whatever with whining crap in your system, I ask you?

(You're not.)

(And for the record, I adore beyond words the fact that I am married. I'm just, you know, whining.)

I submit the following as evidence of my change o'heart:

It's a gingerbread train!!!! Yay!!!! In like, a cute little woodland setting!

The engine, with a festive wreath. And a nice big headlight to guide the way through the snowy nights! :)

The coal and lumber cars, with pretty convincing coal and lumber.

My snowman! Amidst the rocks and trees and bushes.

The caboose, with the stash of gold ready to be dropped off at the bank in the next town.

This adventure was incredibly entertaining! I had no idea it would be so much fun. Maybe coming up with your own traditions isn't that bad after all? :)

I still fully plan on quoting Charlie Brown. I mean, how can you not?

This is my message to you-u-u.

This song has been getting me through this week. And last week. And will probably do so for the next three weeks.

Sigh.


Sometimes maybe it's a good idea to push pause and remember that in the end, the good guys really do win. Semesters end, projects get either get finished or thrown out, the house gets clean, and things keep flowing.

Or as Robert Frost said:
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."

And I guess the rain does give you an excuse to gaze in awe at rainbows, after all. :)

Who needs a dog when you have this?

5 things I adore about him.

And by "him," I mean this handsome devil:

WARNING! 

I am about to get extremely cheesy, corny, lovey-dovey, etc etc etc. 

I'm pretty sure it's my legal and lawful right as a newlywed. 

Pretty sure.

5. Sometimes he says funnyslashcuteslashridiculous things to me in his sleep. A couple weeks ago, he rolled over and said, "Babe, don't do drugs."

...okay honey, I promise! Cross my heart. :)

Then a few months ago, he sang part of this song to me as I was crawling into bed. Specifically the line that says, "...you don't have to come and confess...we gon' find you..."

I had to crawl right back out of bed and unleash my laughter in the bathroom before I was able to compose myself enough to attempt going to bed again. He still doesn't believe that it happened. 

4. When Shay is tired, silly things just take running leaps out of his mouth. Once I asked him to tell me a story when we were going to sleep. He was pooped that night, but obliged my sincere, if somewhat childlike, request:

"Once upon a time there was a fiery red dragon that lived far away. He was very fiery and very red. He breathed fire all the time. He flew all over the place. And he breathed fire and was red. Then one day he flew and was breathing fire and the fire got too hot and burned him right up.

Amen."

EL-OH-EL I tell you. 

3. Last week I made a quiche for dinner. The relationship between my tummy and the quiche is one of pure love, so you can bet your jellyfish I was stoked for it to be done. As I was about to bake the magic pie of swirling egg and cheese goodness, my hand got overly excited and tipped it all into my open oven. I stood looking at the tragic scene of my culinary dreams crushed for a moment, wondering whether to cry or to laugh or to do both and produce a sound not unlike the air being let out of a tire all at once (this is, in fact, what happened), when my handsome Canadian in shining armor came running to the rescue. He blockaded me out of the kitchen, took me to the lovesac, and held me for a moment until he was sure that I wasn't actually going into shock. Then he asked me what I wanted for dinner, went and picked it up, and came back to help me clean up the scrambled egg mess. All the while assuring me that he wasn't upset at all and that he was sure it would have been a wonderful quiche.

2. The other day we celebrated our nine month anniversary of being marriaged. Shay surprised me with two dozen beautiful pink roses, and every morning before we leave for our daily tasks, he says to me something like, "Aren't your roses so pretty? Did you see them today? I think they're so pretty. I'm glad I got them for you." To which I say, "Yep, they're the prettiest roses anyone ever got." And I smile really big and tell the butterflies going nuts in my tummy to quiet down already!

1. Tonight we watched that movie with Nicholas Cage called "Knowing." Speaking of knowing, I should have known better than to watch it, as I have heard from some very reliable sources that it's a total waste of time. Well, I'm a big wuss, and that movie made me cry my little eyes out. It was weird, it was sad, it was scary, it made me think about the world ending and all sorts of terribly depressing things like that. Do you know what that husband of mine did? He gave me a great big hug, and asked me if I wanted to read some scriptures to help me feel better. Then he reassured me that everything was, in fact, going to be just fine, and reminded me that he was going to be there to hold my hand no matter what. "Do you know why?" he asked me. "Why?" I sniffled. "Because I promised you I would. No matter what."

And aren't I just the luckiest girl ever? :)

Because...

...oh sorry, I thought you asked why fall is my favoritest season ever. :)

Second star to the right, straight on 'til morning.

I really like being growed up.

I happen to quite enjoy driving a car. Staying up late. Kissing my husband. Wearing makeup that isn't pretend and doesn't have the options of blue, purple, and hot pink for eye shadow. Not worrying about who I'll play with at recess. Watching a movie, and THEN doing the dishes. Eating half a bag of Hershey's kisses just because I want to. And yes, I knew I'd feel sick. So what?

But sometimes...just sometimes, I miss the happy meal toys at McDonalds. Not getting motion sicknessy by swinging on a swing. Being fascinated by the time it takes a potato bug to cross the sidewalk. Having time to be fascinated by watching a potato bug cross the sidewalk. Reading a book I actually want to read. Watching Saturday morning cartoons and eating cereal that has marshmallows in it, without worrying about what it's going to do to my appetite for the rest of the day. 

I miss calling up my friends on a land line phone and asking them to "play." Thinking that call waiting and caller ID were soooo awesome. Having sleepovers and dress up parties. Shows on TGIF. Singing the opening songs to Pinky and the Brain and Fresh Prince. Playing Oregon Trail during free Fridays in computer class. Getting scared while reading Goosebumps. Taking a Beauty and the Beast lunch box to school. Totally crushing on Nick Carter from Back Street Boys and Jonathan Taylor Thomas from Home Improvement. Listening to the radio all day long just to hear that new song I loved, and recording it on my TAPE player so that later I could listen to it on my walkman. Being totally determined to find Waldo no matter where he was hiding. Squeeze its. Treasure trolls. Pogs and virtual pets. Playing MASH to find out if I really was going to marry my crush and have 8 kids, even if we did drive a shopping cart and live in a shack. 

And wishing for the days when I got to go to college, get married, have a job, have a car, have a credit card that wasn't actually my mom's old calling card...calling card!

I am feeling nostalgic. Could you tell? I blame Julie. Last night, she and I pulled out our old Sega Genesis. It was pure magic. We even had to blow on the game at one point to get it to work! I was in heaven.

It makes me wonder what I'll think 5, 10, 15 years from now. Will I feel the same way? Will I feel sorrow for all the time that I wanted to pass, so that I could get somewhere else? Or will I feel content that I enjoyed it as much as I could have, and didn't waste a moment by wishing for what wasn't only to miss the wonderful things that were? 

I always want to be that little girl, with bright eyes and bouncy steps, thinking that everyone in the world has a smile for me. Looking forward to the little things in life because they ended up being the biggest things after all. 

And never ceasing to be amazed at just how beautiful life really, truly is. 

Ohhhhhh yeahhhhhh.

Public service announcement...

Attention - shun - shun - shun - shun  all married women of the world - urld - urld - urld - urld!!!!!


I don't recommend anything that I don't love, and I love love love this book.

Go now, and read. Be filled with the priceless knowledge contained within. Apply it to all areas of life, love, and marriage.


This has been a friendly public service announcement brought to you by: 
Procrastinating sleep!
Why? No one really knows, but we're all tired in the morning anyway.

The best thing that's ever been mine.

There is a day that is more dear to me than any other in my memory. 

There are no words to describe it, none that could ever adequately capture it from this now dreamlike place in my mind and bring it back to physical reality. It went by so fast and yet...when I close my eyes sometimes and focus on the dream, every detail comes back to me with startling clarity. I suppose it's because that was the day that defined the rest of my entire life, and lives of everyone that will now come after me.

It was the day that I was blessed to keep the very greatest gift I have ever received...the day I was sealed for eternity to my very best friend.

I never could have imagined this day, or the wonderful blessing it was. I never could have imagined how  in love I'd be, or what the incredible man would be like that walked out of those doors with me into the cold January morning. It was the same world I'd always known, but on that day...it seemed absolutely new.

I never imagined that he'd have eyes like the cerulean crayon I loved so much as a little girl, or hair so blonde that he already looked like one of my own family.

I never imagined the feeling of unconditional love and support that I'd feel every time I was near him.

Nor could I have imagined the butterflies he'd give me, or the feeling of unfailing confidence and security I hadn't previously known existed.

I couldn't have imagined how much he'd teach me about cherishing my own family, the ones I was sealed to first and forever.

I couldn't have dreamed how much I'd love watching him treat his own family with sincere affection and loyalty. I had no idea how excited this would make me to begin our own, and see how many more lives would be touched by his genuinely loving nature.

I had no way of knowing just how much more fun life would be with him around...or how much life he would bring into my own.

I hadn't ever felt the words that could be spoken by the touch of a hand...

...or the thoughts that could be conveyed by the sweetness of a kiss.

I was unaware of how happiness in its complete form felt until that day. I didn't know I could smile so big.

I could have never guessed how unbelievably, incredibly, amazing this man would be.

And that he'd be the best thing that's ever been mine.

International alliances, and all of that.

I have a husband, who was once a fiance.

He hails from the land northward, otherwise known as Canada, otherwise known as the 51st state, aka America's hat.

(Or if you ask said husband, he says that America is Canada's you-know-what in the bathroom. So we won't ask him this time.)

(In his defense, that comment only passes his lips when he's provoked by comments such as mine. He is Canadian after all. I always say that Canadians make the best husbands. They're just far too nice! I also probably needed to marry someone that could chill out my fiery self...and who knows the cold like Canadians? No one. That's who.)

Whilst he was a fiance, we decided to take a trip up there together to celebrate our engagement with everyone that is so important to him. I was nervous and excited and anxious all at once to see the things and go the places that had been such a huge part of making him into the man I love. I really was quite the jumble of emotions.

And I was honestly surprised at how much I LOVED Canada. Oh, I knew I'd enjoy myself, and I really looked forward to spending some more time with Shay's parents and getting to know them better. But even just the land and the scenery and the places he took me! They were all so, so, so much fun.

Plus, the fact that Canadians really do say "eh" every few words...well, the trip never lacked for entertainment. :)

One of the first things we did was take a trip to Niagra Falls. I had NO idea how big they really were. And loud, and beautiful, and cold! The cold in Canada is like nothing I have ever felt. I thought Utah got chilly, but Utah is the fridge to Canada's freezer. That wind blasts into you and through you just keeps blasting along like nobody's business. All around the falls, huge mounds of ice build up from the mist that shoots off of them. The falls are lit up with Canadian and American flag colors, and there are shops, restaurants, and even haunted houses all along the strip nearby.

Shay's parents were our amazing tour guides, hosts, and are the best parents-in-law ever! They bundled up with us on more than one occasion to make sure our trip was the best possible memory. I honestly hadn't felt quite so looked after in a long time. :) They were amazing!

And of course, we had to get a picture too...

Shay took me to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) as well. This building is HUGE and has so many awesome exhibits! There was something there for everyone, which meant there was plenty there to keep me happy for quite some time. :) While I loved everything we saw from animals to architecture to ancient artifacts and more, I had one specific quest:

I saw them! Or, the parts that are left and traveling the world anyway. Unfortunately the scientists that first handled the scrolls weren't completely savvy to how even light and touch would damage them, and a few of them were harmed during the process of cleaning and translating. So understandably, they don't let the most important ones (you know, like copies of Isaiah and stuff?) do any traveling and send a few of the 800 other ones instead. Still amazing though!

We went out for dinner at some really fun places while there, but my favorite place was definitely the Rich Tree restaurant in Toronto. This was part of our New Year's Eve activity and did not disappoint! It's basically a big marketplace where food is cooked as you order. Each station presents an impressive display of yummy food: european, grill, seafood, pasta, sushi, etc etc etc. In the end our group ate everything from steak to shark.

This little lovely is from the elevator that rides up the side of the CN Tower, or Canadian National Tower. It was built for communication purposes and was the tallest building in the world for 31 years! 1,815 feet tall, and the elevator took less than a minute to get us to the top. Did I mention that the elevator we rode also had a glass floor? Oh yeah. And Allison is terrified of heights.

It was worth it though, because this is what we saw from the top:

Truly incredible.

This trip was nothing short of amazing, and we did about a hundred more things. But the best thing of all was getting to know my Canadian better, and loving the time we got to learn more about each other. I cannot wait to go back!

Scandelous!

My last post was in April.

APRIL.

April?

April!

And the beginning of the month at that! I have no excuses. Interestingly enough, my journal usually starts off in the same way:

"I'm totally bad at writing in this thing, but I have time now so I'm going to do much better! I have so much to record and I'm sure that in a few days, I'll be totally caught up!"

Three months later...

"Oh my gosh, it's been so long since I wrote! So much has happened! I really want to be good at this journal writing thing, I think I'll finally get back into the groove this time."

A year later...

"So uh, it's been a while..."

And so on and so forth, forever and ever amen.

(I also do this with eating veggies. Aaaand exercising. And saving money. And studying, not just reading, my scriptures. Maybe all things that are virtuous, lovely, of good report, and praiseworthy? Hmmm...)

Anyway, stay tuned folks. More updates on all things adventurousish are coming soon to a blogspot near you!




You've been warned.

Confessions of a closet nerd.

I have what you might call a weird very special little quirk. Random words that others might use as insults, I happen to use as terms of endearment. I don't quite remember when this started, or who infected me with this habit. It's caused, um, some...confusion perhaps? Yes, let's name it confusion. It's caused some confusion quite often every now and again between myself and close friends. Basically, if I love you, I might call you a "dork" or "geek" or "nerd." This happened once a couple years ago, the first time I allowed one of my good friends to become savvy to this.


Friend: "Something witty that Allison doesn't remember now but made her speechless and without a sufficient retort."

Allison: "...you're a nerd."

Friend: "Uh...thanks?"

Allison: "No no no! I mean it in a good way. Sort of. I just couldn't think of anything to say to that witty statement!"

Friend: "Well, if you think about it, we're all nerds in some way. Aren't we? And to be honest, nerds are in. Come on, everyone ends up working for nerds at some point. Take Bill Gates for example. Nerd to the max."

Allison: "Like I said...meant it in a good way." (smiles really big)


It's a veritable truth, my friends. Nerds are in. And they come in many shapes and sizes. A few more examples:


Steve Urkel: The Nerdy Nerd. Back when nerds like this was what made us all plop down in front of our televisions for an hour of back to back episodes of Family Matters, without fail, every Tuesday at 6:00. Just so we could hear, "Howdy-ho Winslowwwwws!!!"




Albert Einstein: The Knowledge Nerd. Also see: Complete Genius. Changed the world, redefined what it meant to be intelligent, and made awesome faces all at the same time. "The most important thing is to never stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." Smart man!




Tony Stark: The Superhero/Weapon Nerd. You name it. He can build it. In a cave. With scraps.




Count von Count: The Numbers Nerd. Loved this guy. Don't know why, just loved him. :) "I vill now count de cookies. Von cookie. Two cookie. Three cookie..."




And last, Chuck Norris. The Fitness Infomercial/Kill-You-With-a-Flex-of-His-Chest-Muscles/Trumps Everything and Everyone Nerd. "If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble you win. Forever." Or, "There are no such things as tornadoes. Chuck Norris just doesn't like trailer parks." Or, "Chuck Norris doesn't punch a time clock. The time clock sees Chuck Norris coming, and punches itself in fear."



And now, the time has come. Yes, I too, am a nerd. About the following things.

1. Pokemon, the gameboy game. Last year I got sick during the spring semester of school. After all the studying was done and my library gone through with nothing to interest me in reading, I decided to pull out my old gameboy and play my old Pokemon game. The thing is, they're a story game which means either you pick up where you left off, or you start a new game and lose all your hard work. Solution: order a new version of the game off of Amazon with the accompanying manual. I was literally giddy to play it, which I did...for about two weeks.

2. The Justin Bieber song, "One Time." The acoustic version of course. Yes, I know that he's like 13 and has a song with Ludacris. I love this song regardless, and sing it through the house to Shay. Don't judge me...

3. Hemp bracelets. I did in fact make my own, for about four years. It went something like this: go to Icing or another jewelry store. Take mental note, in detail, of their designs. Make them for a fraction of the cost at home. Lose one after another to jealous sisters or the washing machine.

4. Reading. Now I know that this isn't necessarily a nerdy thing per se, but believe me, I make it nerdy. I cannot count the number of books I've read, nor could I ever remember even half the titles. Sci-fi, historical fiction, and fantasy are the favorites. When I moved, I had more boxes that contained books than boxes that contained normal possessions.

5. Romance. I kid you not, Shay might actually get romanceitis once I'm through with him...I'm determined to make our marriage one filled with cute surprises and super fun memories. Tonight I did this:





That is indeed our shower wall. Courtesy of Crayola Bath Crayons! So much fun and highly recommended!

What would life be without a bit of nerdiness.... :)

Better together. :)

Welp, I'm a Mrs.

A Mrs. Shay Petrone.

A wife, companion, other-half, breakfast maker, laundry doer, sore shoulder rubber, beyond happily married girl. :)

And I have quiiiiite a bit to update about our lives. I was hoping to stay up on this so well that I could give every little detail about every little thing, but then I'm afraid something happened to prevented that. And that something is called "life." And "life" didn't really feel like slowing down to let me dwell on the little details, but instead brought on every big thing.

But then guess what? Life's new companion, called "husband," fell asleep super early tonight so I got a little bored. It's tough when your biggest and best playmate is all played-out. What's funny though is that as he's lying next to me, snoring slightly on his back, he does the cutest thing when I nudge him. He doesn't ask, "What?" or "Mmmm?" or even roll back over moaning because I interrupted his slumber. Without fail, every single time, he mumbles, "Amuvooo." Which translates to: "I love you."

Every time. I think I've done it like six times now just because I wanted to hear it. Hee hee...

Anyway, I'll start with just before the last place I left off at which was prior to the events that will heretofore be listed later on in the duration of this post. And with these bigish things, I'll list as many littleish details as I can! 'Cause they're fun and make me smile, that's why. :)

BRIDALS!!!

The details:

LaCaille is BEAUTIFUL and expensive and has crazy swans.

I was blessed with an amazing photographer and a very patient maid of honor and mother and groom-to-be who were all so much more kind to me than I deserved that day. But that's why they are who they are to me. :)

I was fearful that I'd leave this four hour (yep, FOUR hours in the freeeeeezing cold) photo shoot with only a handful of pictures that would maybe make me smile and go, okay, that works I guess...but no. I am having the hardest time picking out which pictures to post, and if I even posted all the ones I like after narrowing them down, I'd still probably blow my blog up. I wish I could show you the fabulous bride's room that made me feel like a French princess, with mirrored walls and powder puff chairs and flowers and sparkles. I wish I could show you the ducks that played prop for us or the swan that took a snap at our photographer when she tried to get him to do the same. I wish I could show you the fireplaces and winding staircases, the lamp post that I swung around on and the manmade snow cave created by a constantly running sprinkler. Instead, I want to show you these:



Our photographer was amazing at catching our personalities. She got lots and lots of us laughing...because honestly, that's what we do about 80% of the time. I was grateful that she caught on so fast. :)



"All that I'm after is a life full of laughter, as long as I'm laughing with you..."



And she got some super romantic ones. Like that one above. I absolutely fell in LOVE with that picture, and with the guy in it all over again.



I have such a studly husband! This was during Shay's solo with our photographer while Kari and I went back to the bathroom to fix my hair and warm up.



I love the symbolism in this picture. It's the biggest print that we had made for the wedding, because I adore what it seems to be saying. Isn't every love story that way? Two people coming from different roads, joined together finally on the same path and dressed in black and white. :) Neither really with a good idea of what to expect or what might happen, but neither really focused on that as much as they are on each other. Because really, that's what is going to get them through whatever lies on the road ahead. Each other. :)

The next adventures each deserve a post of their own, so in respect I shall defer those details until a later date.