Pictures coming soon.

A quote to sum up the day:

"Shoe love is true love."

Amen.

We made the long drive to Reno last night. We left at 9:30pm and drove all night, arriving in Reno at about 4am. However, I am so happy we made it and I'm excited to eat. The turkey is cooking as we speak. I even helped make the jello.

Let me take just a minute to say I am so thankful. It has been a rough year for our family, but we have had many blessings. First and foremost the birth of our little baby girl. We are so thankful to welcome another member to our little family. Also, I am thankful for the rest of my family, particularly my parents who are such great supports to me. Even if I am the least favorite child:) I am thankful for my friends, both those who are close by and those who are far away. To those far away, visit more often I miss you guys! I am also thankful to have the job I have and I feel blessed that in this economy I am still able to do what I love to do and hopefully make a difference.

On a lighter note, I am thankful for pumpkin pie and black Friday shopping deals. Also for a sister who promised to accompany me tomorrow morning as I fight the crowds for the killer deals on princess paraphernalia and little girls Christmas dresses.

As Thanksgiving is approaching I do not think I am going to reach my weight loss goal. However, I am close. I can even squeeze into my skinny jeans, although I believe when I do I resemble "that girl" who wears clothing too tight and isn't comfortable sitting down. But I think I may have found the extra push I need to reach my pre-pregnancy weight. At my work we are having a weight loss challenge over the holidays. We are organized into teams and the team that loses the most weight wins a prize. If there is anything I am up for, it is competition. So here goes. We have 6 weeks to lose. I am determined that my team will win. Caleb thinks I am going to turn into Kelly from The Office. Hook me up to an IV.

Mondays suck.

The end.

Where to begin? This weekend has been fabulous! Not only did I make it to the Twilight premiere, but I watched an amazingly great football game. Before I begin, a disclaimer to BYU fans, you are not all as bad as the BYU fans we sat by at the game. Some of you are actually quite sane and rational, so please don't take offense. However, I have had to watch my team lose the rivalry game in the last few minutes for the last two years and I have had to take unbelievable amounts of trash talk and emails this year from co-workers, friends, and family (yes that is you father) about "the quest for perfection," so this is a long time coming.

This rivalry game was special for us because we got to sit in the cougar club section. We went with my parents, BYU fans, and fortunately my mother served as a buffer and sat between me and my father. I will admit there were some drunk Utah fans making fools of themselves. Sad, but true. However there were also some sober BYU fans making fools of themselves, and I think they were all sitting by us.

Last night I, along with every teenage girl in Utah, went to go see the Twilight movie. Me and my friends have been planning this night for weeks! I was a little nervous to see the movie. Would it be as good as the book? Probably not, but I was worried I would be very disappointed. We had tickets in advance and got to the theatre two hours early to stand in line. We were even worried that once we got in the theatre, everyone would rush, so we made a game plan. Turn right and then left and get the end seats on the upper side.

So because I consider myself a critical movie watcher (as I don't make it to the movies very often with two kids and I want to only spend money on movies worth my time) and I am somewhat of a Twilight connoisseur (I have turned many people on to the books) I am going to critique this movie.

First off, I was disappointed in the screenplay. Many lines that were added to the screenplay were not in the novel and they were ridiculous. For example, Edward's line to Bella about her being "a little spider monkey" when she climbed on his back. How corny was that? Actually, I thought all of the scenes when she was riding on his back were too corny. Somehow in the book it seemed better. Same with his sparkling skin. It was just too weird for me. I also hated the part where he made her say vampire. Even in the trailers I hated that part.

However, I must admit that there were certain characters that I liked more in the movie than in the book. Jessica and Mike were both hilarious in the movie and provided much needed comic relief (see I even sound like a bonafide movie critic.) Also, Charlie was not how I imagined him, but his lines with the pepper spray and the scene with the shotgun were classic. I also loved the part where Bella left Forks, because you could genuinely feel how upset Charlie was and how hard that was for Bella.

Since I'm talking about actors here goes. The Cullen siblings were almost all different than I imagined as far as looks go. Emmet was pretty close. Rosalie was very different, but the actress did an accurate job portraying her. What was up with Jasper? I think he was supposed to look like he was struggling with hunger, but ended up looking constipated and strung out. Carlisle was way too pale and not as handsome as I imagined. I loved Esme, aka Rebecca from Grey's Anatomy, but I wish she was in the movie more. James, Victoria, and Laurent were perfect. Especially James. Now for Edward and Bella. When I first saw trailers and pictures of the cast I was disappointed with them. Even in the beginning of the movie, I wasn't as excited about Edward as the other teenage girls in the theatre. However, by the middle of the movie I was really feeling both of them. They did well and produced a good chemistry. I loved the parts were Edward was fierce and protective because that was exactly how I imagined him in the book. Lastly, I will discuss my favorite book character, Jacob. I was extremely disappointed with the actor who played him, but in all fairness, I doubt there is an actor alive who can do justice to the Jacob that I imagined while reading the book!

Now for the two worst and two best moments, in my opinion. The worst: the moment that Bella stepped into the science lab and Edward tensed up. That was ridiculously overdone and almost comical. In fact it was comical, we laughed, somewhat inappropriately. The next is similar, when Edward was sucking her blood and his eyes almost popped out of his head. Another inappropriate time that I laughed. Ok I have to add a third worst moment, when Edward was about to kill James and Carlisle said "remember who you are son," and they still proceeded to kill him.

This brings me to my best moments. My guilty pleasure in movies is fight scenes, and I absolutely loved the fight scene in the ballet studio. Especially Alice's part in the execution of James. I also loved the baseball game. I'm not exactly sure why, but I liked the special effects and the speed. Of course I also liked the kissing scenes between Bella and Edward.

Of final note, where were the Cullen siblings at prom? I wanted to see Rosalie and Alice dressed up! I also thought the soundtrack was amazing and would love anyone who got that for me as a Christmas present, hint, hint. I also loved the scenery and Forks, especially the diner. Exactly how I pictured it.

So these are my opinions and I would love, love, love to hear what everyone else thinks!

Today was a happy food day. A happy food day is when someone makes food and I get to eat it. For example, we have potluck at work. I'm the loser that brings something like a bag of chips, while all the other amazing chefs-in-disguise-as-mental-health-professionals cook up these elaborate dishes that are nothing short of absolutely delicious. Today someone brought a HUGE platter of different candies, fudges, and cheesecake bites and a huge thing of chocolate chip cookies. So I drifted off my healthy eating plan slightly.

Then for dinner we got to visit the fabulous Jamie and Grayson for dinner. There is nothing better than having someone else cook for us! Thanks guys!

By the way, until tonight, I have cooked dinner every day this week. Yes I have made spaghetti, roasted chicken and rice, a creamy chicken noodle soup, and scallops and au gratin potatoes. About 90% of these ingredients were already in our fridge and I decided to make use of them and give our cereal bowels a break for one night.

Pictures of the concert. I was having an amazingly un-photogenic day and have yet to see single picture that I look good in. But really, who looks good sweating at a concert anyways? And with that lighting...

We had floor seats and were quite close.

We got even closer when they appeared in the middle of the floor on a revolving platform.

If you can't read what his shirt says it says "I Love Mormon Girls."

It was by far the loudest concert I have been too. Literally girls screaming for endless minutes at the top of their lungs. Myself included.

Micaela at 3 months old after her bath.


Scarlett 3 months old after her bath.