Christmas Break

We spent Christmas this year in Virginia with my family. Nothing says "Jolly" quite like leaving for the airport at 4:30 in the morning for a 7:00 flight in San Francisco. But not to worry, i had a flight attendant who felt that she would make the passengers more in tune with the holiday spirit but changing the lyrics to classic christmas songs to fit with traveling with Delta, it was very awkward. The flight was a little early, but both Aaron and i arrived safe and sound in Virginia . Our holiday was fantastic, full of quotes from Christmas Vacation, grandkids running a-muck, and lots of family togetherness, i wouldn't have had it any other way. Here are the usual million pictures from Christmas break. Enjoy.

Hanging out with Carly and Tay by the heat dish. It was freezing in Virginia.The Christmas Eve Nativity Scene. this was Round 2. There were two rounds so that both girls could be Mary. The Nativity is always more fun when the little kids do it. Taylor, Stacey, and Carly by the tree.Christmas Morning! Don't we look fabulous?
Organizing the presents into piles for each person. There were a lot of people involved in Christmas this year.So Christmas Vacation is our favorite holiday movie, as you might know. In the movie Cousin Eddie and family stop by randomly to help celebrate with the Griswolds. They aren't the classiest of folks and at one part in the movie, Eddie is wearing a black "Dicky" under a white sweater. A dicky is a turtleneck without sleeves, just the neck part and some material coming down. Well, my mom found a dicky at a thrift store and gave it to my dad as a gag gift. this was his reaction.Matt and his Wii. We had a lot of fun playing this over christmas.The Stringham KidsThe Stringham girls being awesomeWhat is a holiday without taking the obligatory family picture?
And of course, the most important members of the family, the grandkids. Brooklyn, Taylor, Carly and Lulu (Emma).

HMS3 Baby!

Kate and I are officially awesome!

Feeling Festive

Despite the fact that its already December 6th, i have yet to get into the Christmas spirit. Shocking, i know. I see the decorations, i hear the music, but the weather is throwing me off. Its not cold enough for Christmas time! California is confusing me a little, and my festiveness is suffering. That confusion, however, ended today. I woke up this morning and Aaron had bought me a gift from Target. Christmas Booties!! I'm in love, aren't they adorable? I can now keep my feet warm and feel festive all at the same time. Later today i got a package in the mail from my mom. In it i was delighted to see that my Christmas jammies had arrived. Yes! So i'm sitting here with my Christmas booties and jammies on, and its safe to say that i'm feeling pretty dang festive. Finally!

Thanksgiving Festivities

Well its about time that i put up my thanksgiving post. This years thanksgiving was extremely spontaneous. Aaron had thought about driving to Utah to celebrate, but we weren't sure whether he would get off work. We never made solid plans to go, but instead we waited until the last minute to make the decision. Tuesday night Aaron came home and said that he could roll some hours and get wednesday off. In about 30 minutes we packed up our suitcases, got in the car, and headed off to Utah.
Thursday was wonderful because there was no cooking or dishes involved. This year Aaron's family decided to go out to eat. We drove up to Ogden, picked up Aaron's grandparents and headed off to the restaurant. I made a vow with myself that i would bring my camera and take a copious amount of pictures while i was there. Unfortunately my battery died in my camera, so i didn't take any pictures until the last night that we were there.

The day after thanksgiving the girls headed off to the movies to see Twilight. Yes, that was the second time for me, and i still loved it. The guys headed off to the mall to see how crowded things were on black friday.We also went and saw Australia. It was a really good movie, and Hugh Jackman was so delicious the entire movie. The only downside was that it was like 3 hours long. So i wouldn't recommend it if you don't like long movies, but if you like Hugh Jackman... definitely worth your time.this was my attempt to take pictures the last night that we were there. Aaron's Mom and I
Aaron and his dad
Our thanksgiving posse.It was so nice to be able to spend thanksgiving with Aaron's family and to have a little vacation. It was definitely not long enough (like most vacations), and we were really sad to go. Thanks for a great trip.

A Day for the History Books

Today is my half birthday, i know, you're excited. But that isn't the historical part of today. November 24th marks the day that i have gone 6 months without eating dessert.

I stopped eating dessert over the summer because of a diet that i was on. Unfortunately by the end of the summer i didn't reach my goal weight and i didn't want to start slamming on desserts (which are my biggest vice) and ruin my diet before i even reached the weight that i wanted to be. I've been maintaining my weight , which to be honest, i've never been capable of doing, and have now started to lose weight again. I didn't want to start eating desserts and do the whole roller-coaster thing, so now its kind of become a game. I've already gotten this far, why not keep going? My goal is to go a whole year without eating dessert. I've already got 6 months down, only 6 months to go.

Here are two of the things that are the hardest to go without:

Ten Things I'm Grateful For

(Written by Aaron)

10 things I am grateful for (not in any particular order):

1.) The time that I have been able to spend studying for the CPA exam thus far and consequently having passed the three sections I have taken.

2.) The 48.5 cents a mile I reimbursed when I drive to a client’s location. It gets me just enough money each week so I break even buying lunch out.

3.) My new car. Not because I particularly love my new car but it means that I don’t have to worry about my old car breaking down all the time. May you Burn in Purgatory you giant piece of Passat crap.

4.) Our Apartment’s Parking Stall #16. It’s the best 15 bucks I spend each month. I get a second spot so I don’t have to circle the block finding a spot and worrying about my car being on the street.

5.) Our sound machine. There is nothing better at the end of a long day to lie down in bed and get lulled to sleep by the sound of a light river flowing by.

6.) 25 cent sodas at the office. Up until about three weeks ago I was able to get a can of soda at the Deloitte office for a quarter. However, three weeks ago they raised the price on soda and used our office food subsidization to reduce the price of “healthy foods” in the vending machines instead.

7.) My wife making dinner every night. I love to come home to a home cooked meal and just relax with the Mrs.

8.) The Dallas area sports teams. I will always have a deep profound man love for the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Cowboys. Without Dirk, Romo, and the other guys my life would be incomplete. Que the Back Street Boys song.

9.) The brown jacket I bought from Banana Republic like two weeks ago. I have always wanted a brown three quarter length jacket and I finally got one. I wear it pretty much every day.

10.) Friday Night Date Night at Costco. The title explains it all.

Disclaimer: What about my wife, my family, and the gospel? All three of those would supersede any thing on this list. They are the three most important things in my life without exception. Without those three things my life would be without meaning.

And the Utes Win

Congrats Aaron!

Utah: 48 BYU: 24

I hope that Utah busts the BCS wide open.