12.30.2010

My husband rocks.


Broc came home about 2 weeks before Christmas saying that he found my christmas present and that it was going to be awesome. He told me that we had a limit on each others gifts of $100 and that his was even under that much. He bragged and bragged about how much I would love what he got me and I struggled and struggled to get him something that would compete with the bragging for under $100.
On christmas morning I found out that my husband is a liar.


12.29.2010

Christmas Traditions

Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love love love christmas. Before I got married I was the one to hang the lights on our house, I brought up the tree the day after Thanksgiving, I played Amy Grant christmas music in September... don't judge me. I love the holidays! This year was close to no different. We were on our honeymoon for Thanksgiving so I made my family wait to put up their tree for when I could be there. My sister Taylor took the responsibility of putting up the lights on the house and Amy Grant came on the ipod speakers a little late but she was still there during all of the cinnamon roll making. Broc and I even had our own little christmas tree in our apartment. Christmas kinda just crept up on us all this year I think. It was the wedding and then BAM we were out caroling. But christmas with my family never disappoints. And this year I got to spend it with another whole family with new traditions. Broc's family knows how to celebrate christmas with the best of them. Here are some of the traditions that will live on forever...

Homemade gifts-
Every year we draw a name out of the family to make a homemade gift for to be opened on Christmas Eve. It's a surprise on who you have and what you make. Here are some of the ones from this year...
I made Brynlee a headband
Dad made Lex a necklace
Mom made Broc some pjs
Ashley and Taylor made mom and dad snuggies
Michael made Mitch a gum ball machine
Gifts not pictured: Broc made me a computer cover
Mitch and Brynlee made purses for Ashley and Taylor
Lexi made a coloring book for Michael

The Nativity-
We always joke in my family that my moms side and my dads side are very different. Not in any bad ways, just different. The best way to describe that is the example of our Nativity. We do the reenactment of the Nativity every year on both sides. Here's the difference:

The Esplins The Wades



Esplins put their sweatshirts on their heads as shepherds. The Wades go into hair and make up before the show. Both, The best Christmas traditions ever.




12.28.2010

Friends

Broc and I have had the same group of friends since high school and some of those individual friendships go back much further. This Christmas break we've spent a lot more time with them and I am always reminded of why we love them so much! We went to Russ Christensen's cabin a couple days before Christmas. Here are some of the highlights...

The camera was set to "self timer" and was sitting on a dresser right below a mirror. We all smiled like this for at least 10 seconds. The mirror made it hilarious.

Russ found his moms' silky pj's and wore them to bed
cousin cousin cousin
And it's not a party until Crystal puts an owl on her head and walks around spooking people.
There is always a sing-along when we get together.
...
It mostly starts with "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

...
And ends with "Counterpoint"

Life's always a little bit better when we're all around.

12.19.2010

Honeymoon

Here ya go Jessica. I'm finally blogging about our honeymoon. You have something new to read at work again. Broc and I chose to take a cruise to Catalina and Ensenada Mexico for our honeymoon. I had been on a cruise when I was seven but don't have many fond memories of it because I was stuck in the kiddie camp the whole time while my parents went to my dad's work conventions on board. All I remember was making tambourines out of paper plates and beans. Broc had never been so we decided to give it a shot.

Day #1
We woke up early, scraped off the windows and set off to California. We got to Long Beach with no problem but getting to the pier we had some trouble.But eventually we got there just in time to wait in line after line. We were going through security and they seemed like big sticklers about what was allowed on the ship. Broc had his butterfly pocket knife on him and quietly asked where he could turn it in and pick it up after the week but the woman quietly replied in almost a whisper "just put it back in your pocket". Ha that made us feel safe. We got settled into our room and then had to go to a safety orientation in the main lounge. The ship was beautiful so we didn't mind sitting in the lounge listening to our South American cruise director give instructions that no one listened to nor understood. The best part was on any announcement over the loud speaker he would finish with "ciao for now! woo hoo!".
We found the 24 hour buffet which we visited almost all 24 of the day. And we went to the dinning room and met the other people on our table. They were two couples also on their honeymoon! and from Utah! We got along great. Especially with our polish waiter. The trick is to order 2 or 3 entrees because one is never big enough.
Day #2
Catalina day! We ate breakfast at the buffet on the ship. The funniest part of the morning was looking over and seeing an older couple that had 6 bud lights for the two of them! for breakfast! Oh you gotta love cruise drunks. Some of our best entertainment of the week was paid for on other people's drinking tabs. We had a great time at Catalina.
We just walked up and down the streets and in and out of shops most of the time. It's a beautiful island and Broc fell in love with it. We ate lunch on a street bench and Broc couldn't resist feeding the dozens of pigeons. He threw a milk dud on the floor and almost killed one! Seriously I thought after having that big hunk of chocolate and caramel goodness jammed in his throat he would just eventually just tip over dead. Oh Broc. So mature. Love him though.
After a day of the island we made it back to the ship just in time to get ready for formal night. We went to a comic before dinner and laughed our heads off. During dinner that night all of the waiters sang for everyone. With all of their accents combined it made for a hilarious show. The six beer drinkers just happened to be on a table next to ours. She was decked out in sequins and he was in a tuxedo topped off with a cowboy hat, beers in both hands.
Day #3
Ensenada day! We got off the ship and took a bus to La Bufadora, a huge natural blow hole. The bus ride was about an hour long so we got to see a lot of the city. It was freezing that day! We got off the bus and had to walk through a bunch of vendors to get to the blow hole. Broc's good at bargaining! He scored me a beanie to warm my freezing head!




We went back to the ship early that day because it was so very cold. We got the first season of Boy Meets World for our wedding so we watched that in our room for like 4 hours straight. We had dinner that night at the same table with the same waiters with the same people but a different menu. Everything was so good!! The pictures were posted that night of the formal night the night before. Broc and I walked around for forever just laughing at most of them because of how funny some cruisers can be. Then we hit up the 24 hour ice cream bar before going to bed.

Day #4
At Sea
I got up early to go to the gym on board because there is no feeling like you haven't gained 40 lbs. while on a cruise. We got a late breakfast and just hung around the top deck for most of the day. There was an ice sculptor that sculpted a huge indian chief head in honor of Thanksgiving that day. There were people that actually got in their bathing suits and were laying on lounge chairs with goose bumps covering their bodies. Broc and I felt great just laying on lounge chairs in pants and a jacket. For dinner that night they had a thanksgiving option on the menu but because almost every single one of the employees on ship and most of the guests weren't american it didn't seem like the holiday. But we got mashed potatoes and turkey to celebrate with the two other couples on our table. The waiters that night sang "Leaving on a jet plane" in honor of the last night on the ship. It was priceless.
(more pictures coming soon)

Day #5
Leaving back home
We got off the ship by about 8:30 a.m. because we were smart and didn't check any luggage in to be carried off for us. We were sad to be leaving but excited to be going home to our cute apartment and all our family and friends that were still home for thanksgiving. The best part about leaving was the excitement of starting "real" life together.... and so far we LOVE it. :)

Ciao for now! Woo Hoo.


12.13.2010

pink towels and other married things

Don't think that I got married and fell off the face of the planet because I haven't posted anything in a while. Us newly weds don't have internet at the moment and it's KILLING me. Here are some of the recent adventures of the new Hafen pair...

-We slept on sleeping bags as sheets for the first two weeks of marriage.
-I turned our white towels pink yesterday.
-We are AWESOME at warming up left overs now.
-Saturday night date night consisted of wandering around barnes and noble debating on what to buy with our wedding gift cards. We were there for over an hour.
-We found out that we're horrible grocery shoppers. So excited to come home and make dinner with what we bought but realized you can't make anything with flour, oil, ranch and grapes.
-took a lot of gifts back to target and made a bet on how much we'd get back for them. Broc was $2.05 off. The prize was getting fifteen dollars to spend however you wanted at target and of course Broc's choice was to not spend it at all.
-We are overly obsessed with Boy Meets World now. Got the first season for the wedding and have since bought the 3rd and 4th. Still trying to locate the 2nd.
-Found out that we both cook top roman differently. I couldn't imagine there would be more than one way.

So life is good at the Tamarak Condos. Still waiting for our land lord to come take the massive horse painting away. When your biggest worry is trying to figure out what the best thing to use to scrape your car windows in the morning is, then I consider life pretty great.

xoxo,
The Hafens