i n • p u r s u i t

This song is totally not true for me. I LOVE year-end letters! But I had to post this song because I think it is just so funny! I was so exciting about doing our first Christmas letter but it turned into a bit of a debacle. Nothing that couldn't be fixed and, hey, you live and learn, right? You can read our letter here (and see the picture that got sent out with our Christmas cards)! p.s. Don't forget to enter my giveaway ! It ends January 5th!

This picture was taken with my phone as I was getting ready for our Michigan wedding reception. By the way, I absolutely LOVED my hair that day...way more than my wedding day! I curled it with a flat iron. ;) But I didn't like the original. Everything is too, well, orange! I am no photoshop genius. Heck, I can barely figure out how to turn the program on. And anyway, I don't need to do all the crazy cool stuff that photoshop can do. I need to crop this picture or change the contrast with that one. So, what I use is Picasa . It's simple but it does the editing I need. And, anyway, I just felt like sharing that for all you other bloggers who don't use photoshop. Picasa is FREE and super user-friendly. p.s. Don't forget to enter my giveaway ! It ends January 5th!

My photo for the Sh1ft.org project for today. Quick Snap: In My Room .

I'm playing housewife this week because I've got the week off work! I'm pretty excited about my domestic goings on. I've got one of Mike's favorite dinners on the crockpot and clothes in the washer and dryer. I've also got big plans for scrapbooking and/or jewelry making later this evening. I'll show you some of my scrapbook pages soon, I'm pretty excited about them! Earlier today, I ran to Wal-mart to pick up some stuff for some of our favorite missionaries and for shipping late Christmas presents and textbooks. While there, I stumbled across all the 50% off Christmas decor. I picked up some really cute decorations for next years Christmas tree that will be full-sized! Yay! :) Mike likes trees with a hodgepodge of ornaments rather than ones that are super matchy-matchy, so I just picked up a few. Here's a picture of some bulbs I got for $1 apiece! Okay, I'm off for more domesticity. Maybe I'll vacuum the floor in pearls and...

Merry Christmas bloggers! :)

It isn't often that I bake. When I do bake, it's something like apple dumplings or monkey bread or corn muffins. It isn't ever cookies. I don't remember the last time I made cookies. In fact, have I ever made cookies? I don't know. But it's Christmas right? And at christmas, one must make cookies. So, on Christmas Eve, while the hubby was away at work, I decided to do the whole cookie thing. Specifically, monster cookies and sugar cookies. Also, I decided to document this experience. Warning, it gets flashier and flashier as it gets later in the day. ;) Oats, eggs, chocolate chip cookie mix, peanut butter cookie mix and M&Ms for the monster cookies. Sugar cookies mix, eggs, butter, and icing for the sugar cookies. This is kind of irrelevant, but I really thought that these little half-sticks were super cute. Mix everything together except for the M&Ms. Then mix in the M&Ms. And if you have an evil oven like we do...read "bake" as "...

I don't think Mary realized that manual focus was on when she snapped this shot. But I had to keep it, because, really, how often does one see a monk play Wii boxing? He beat my brother, by the way. How adorable is my mommy ? Mom & Dad...awww :) Leo's friend Amanda showed up with her cutie-pie of a son. Then Leo elbowed me because look how much my dad just needs to be a grandfather.

We've only been there for a few hours when this picture was taken. What Leo doesn't realize yet is that he'll never beat my score on Wii Ski Jump. This picture is probably him being annoyed at all the stuff he has to do before play the games (like make a mii and take the 1st body test). Mary is madly in love with that t-rex. Likes him so much that she'll share her alcohol with him. He's really cute and has nubby arms and legs. Sitting on the couch. :) Probably watching people play Wii and sneaking in kisses. <3>

(via stargirl )

(via theweddingplanner )

Did anyone catch The Sing-Off ? I loved it and was tickled to death by all the talent. I was not amused, however, when the judges kept Voices of Lee and Max Factor instead of Face and Solo . Both were seriously bad choices, judges!

I have an exciting announcement coming soon! (p.s. just so you know, it has absolutely nothing to do with babies.)

(via FRETSY! )

Free cupcakes from Godiva and Cupcake Couture & Catering . Yum! My sil, Kristy , works in the mall near these two stores and occasionally gets sweets shoved upon her at then end of the day. Friday night, she came over bearing sweet gifts. We all stayed up until past midnight and as soon as the clock hit 12, Mike & Kristy wished me a happy birthday. :)

...has just crapped out on us. :( UPDATE: okay, well, after much research and taking off the front panel of the machine (by my husband), and then running an cycle...we think it was just a one time thing.

Sorry. Had to quote Tiffany there despite the fact that this post has absolutely nothing to do with I Think We're Alone Now. It does, however, have to do with running. Which I did today. By the way, I am totally NOT a runner. Today, I reminded myself why: running is miserable. A fellow swing dancer had given me some great advice about running. If you can dance for one song, you can run for one song. So, just run one song and walk the next. Okay. Yeah. I can totally do that! This morning, my first day of Christmas break, I decided that I would go for a run. I put my iPod playlist "swing music" onto shuffle and headed off. Easy-peasy. No problem. WRONG. I can dance all night long, but I could barely run for one whole song! UGH. I still want to run. I'm planning on doing a 5k in the New Year and while three miles may not seem like much, it's a ton for someone who can't run for THREE MINUTES. Next Tuesday, I'm heading back ...

(via weheartit )

My sister posted some horrible pictures of me on her tumblr today. I used to drink Tussin out of a straw, did you know that? I can't stand a big huge gulp, so I would sip on it. I also found this an amusing quirk and, as we all know, laughter is the best medicine. I learned that from Reader's Digest. And oh my gosh, I miss that apartment . I loved that apartment...sigh.

(via vitamin g )

I'm really excited that Christmas is right around the corner. :) This Tuesday marks my last day in the classroom until next semester. I am very excited about this. I still have two final exams (for my two hardest classes) to turn in and five papers to put the final touches on. Wish me luck! Next year, I'm taking TWO classes instead of the FIVE I took this year. This has been a ridiculous few months for me. But more on that later. While working on all that, I procrastinated a bit by starting a tumblr. I did it because I wanted to be cool like girlchic (who is one of the coolest girls I know). You can it here . I'm not sure why I have it. I love the concept and most tumblogs are really pretty. But, heck, I've got a really pretty blog right here. So, we'll see. I've recently become obsessed with the photos found on the weheartit website. And a lot of the cool photos I've posted lately have been from there. I'm feeling particularly pic...

...almost there

A documentary that is scheduled to be released in 2010 follows babies from Nambia, Mongolia, Japan, and San Francisco throughout their first year of life. It's aptly named, babies. And, seriously, how cute is it?

I've got 8 exclusive Google Wave invites available. Anybody want a piece of this? If you already have Google Wave, let's be friends! tiffanyheuser@googlewave.com (To be honest, I don't really get it...but you can read about it here .)