December 9th

I cannot tell a lie. I love the Jazz. I'm not obsessed, by any means, but I feel like they are a part of my childhood and I feel at home when I watch them play-- therefore, I sport my jersey whenever I watch at home. After all, I was the one who convinced my mom to paint her acrylic nails green and purple during the NBA finals when I was in like, 5th grade.

So. The Jazz were faced up against the L.A. Lakers-- a hated, but worthy opponent. Even though I love my Jazz, I'm not going to lie, I thought they were gonna suffer a smackdown. IF my husband, Kyle Korver, was playing, I wouldn't have been so pessimistic; obviously they would've won...



Madyson came over and we ate yummy Mexican food, knitted some more scarves, and watched the game. The Jazz did an excellent job until the 4th quarter. But I don't hold it against them. Sometimes it's confusing, ya know? Like you know the game is almost over, but you aren't quite sure, so you just stop playing? It happens to the best of us. It happens to me in almost every basketball game I've ever played. Well, I guess the Jazz players just got confused and so they stopped playing. Easy mistake.

December 8th

So I took this beginning sewing class my Junior year at Utah State and by the end of the semester I thought I ruled the world. Basically.



Funny how fast those skills leave you:) Tiffany is like, gung-ho, amazing seamstress and she decided she was going to make a dress for the Christmas cruise!! What a woman... I spent Wednesday the 8th with her, trying to make a homemade dress pattern for her party outfit! It was s short little hangout and we were both freezing the whole entire time because the heater was off, but it was fun and definitely qualifies for my fun activity of the day!!

(She decided to go away from the dress idea, even though it turned out beautifully-- her final product was a STUNNING gold, sequin skirt.)

December 7th

I knit a scarf!!!

December 6th

Oh, the sabbath.

I just love Sunday. It was a little bit freezing, but I got new tights so I was taken care of. Fast and Testimony meeting was particularly hilarious... I'm really enjoying my ward. There's a light-heartedness, but you can still feel the spirit. I'm so grateful for the leaders and for the wonderful examples in my ward. I feel like I learn every week... The lessons have been beautiful, especially lately, and I love how I feel when I leave church.



(emphasis on REINDEER)

Sunday night was a continuance of the goodness... Britney and I went over to Sugar's for a little eggnog/reindeer-games party. I left before the games began, (had to catch my show on T.V.) but while I was there I met the newest member of Huntington Beach-- Stefanie Snow. That name has total star power, right? Anyway-- she's a fellow Aggie and it's been so much fun to get to know her better this month!

December 5th

Now I know the following image makes some of you a little uncomfortable, but just go with it, okay?



Saturday was an AWESOME day. Tiff and I went to Fashion Island and did a little shoppy-shoppy, and we even took engagements by the giant Christmas tree! (When she posts them, I'll post them). Afterward, we went and got manicures. I did such a bad job on mine earlier in the week that I decided I should just spend the money. Let the professionals do what they do. The thumb picture is just to show the beautiful holly-berry nail polish I chose... too bad it rests on such a fugly thumb... I'm so holiday.

December 4th

Ah-hem... Dance Committee of the year award goes to: Pierside.



Tiff, Arin and I decided to pre-party-- so we cruised over to Pei Wei at Bella Terra for some chow and some fortunes. Mine were: (a little blurry, I'm sorry)

1. "Your talents will prove to be especially useful this week"
2. "You will travel to many exotic places in the next few years"
3. "A pleasant surprise is in store for you in the coming month"

I sooo wish I took a picture. It was ugly sweater night at the HB dance and I must say, some of the outfits were pretty foul. The night was fun!! Only a few fellow piersiders decided to bust it on the dance floor, but some homies from the summer drove up from Murrieta and it was good to see some more familiar faces!

That night, I was pleasantly surprised with the turn-out at the dance, the lights from the dj booth were looking exotic, and my mormon-dance-party talents were especially useful.

December 3rd

Now for the real activity:


Okay, I already kinda wrote about this one... But all of us went to the House of Blues to watch Travis (man in the middle) and his band, The Sequence. Five girls in a red Ford Focus. Party in the U.S.A., anyone? It was a really fun night and we all went to in-n-out after. Music + friends + food = my kind of night.

December 2nd

The girls all decided that we needed a little TLC. But on a budget. So instead of splurging for real manicures (and by that, I mean spending fifteen dollars), we went to the store, bought our own polish and painted our nails. Girl's night. The first of many this month :)

Unfortunately, my nails were stained a beautiful shade of blue from my prior paint job. So they didn't turn out so hot. Still a great night though in very good company.

here we go....

Okay. So I realize that this is going to be a lot of short little blogs, mostly depicting nothing more than a simple activity and a picture... well... maybe not even a picture. BUT. For me, this exercise is one of the best I've ever done. Ever.

So let's talk about creating my own fun. For those of you who are new to this, allow me to provide you a quick lil' update: I vowed to make December one of my favorite months of 2009. I wanted to do something fun every single day. Something that would make me feel like my life is more than my office desk, "see attached", and legal-sized documents.



December 1st: After enjoying a less-than-relaxing-but-more-relaxing-than-usual day at the office, I came home and watched a marathon of Grey's Anatomy with my roommates:) Chelsea got hired on as a freelancer for Bare Escentuals and so she's at home during more regular operating hours, which we all love. With a little spare time, she discovered what the rest of us were so obsessed with: Season 1, Grey's Anatomy. I maintain that this is still the best season. So wreckless. I love it.

concerts ... and stuff ...

So before I continue on with all of my December blogging, I thought I should catch you up on my new hobby! I LOVE GOING TO CONCERTS.

Since I've been in California, I've been able to see a show almost every month! Here is the documentation...

July: I went on a wonderful date to go see The Fray. I already posted about this... So go back and read that blog! Such a fun night-- outdoor summer concerts with good company are very hard to beat.



My friend from Utah/California and fellow Alta Hawk, Travis Van Hoff, is in a freshy-fresh band called The Sequence. You should check out their stuff. Me and Larry and Jen cruised to Chain Reaction in Anaheim to meet up with more amigos and to watch The Sequence do their thing. It was their welcome-back show after many long weeks of touring and it was bomb! I even got water spit on me from the lead-singer of the opening band. How memorable is that?



August: I went on another wonderful date to go see Lil' Wayne. I also already posted about this, but now I have some pictures!! This one is off my phone, so the quality isn't great. But you know that Weezy was on point-- seeing that there was FIRE on stage! You better believe that I was jumping up and down excited for this show. A many-year-long dream was fulfilled and I can cross that off my list:)



September: My friend and fellow Dance Committee member, Tiffani Albright, went to go see Citizen Cope at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. What can I say about this show?... I feel like it changed my life... Okay. Maybe that's a little dramatic. But I LOVED it. His voice is so amazing and the show was so simple. Lots of love to that man. And was he wearing a light-olive leather blazer? Yes, he was. And was it amazing? Yes, it was. I spent a good hour or so the next day doing some online shopping looking for one. Tiff was so fun to go with!





October: Lucky me, I got to go to two shows in a week! My friend Jen Wall was like my life partner for a solid week. She came over almost every night and kept me great company! I love her so much-- she really is the best. Okay. So Jen and I went to go see Matisyahu at the House of Blues with some of my friends from work. It was AMAZING. The guy who opened for him had dreds down to his knees and the show was such high energy. Matisyahu is like, King of Beatboxing, and I could not believe how talented he was live! A Jewish Reggae Rapper... who knew?



Just two short days after Jen and I went to that show, I got a call from her boyfriend, Troy. That little romantic had arranged to propose to Jen onstage (again at the House of Blues) during his friend's band's concert!! So Jenny and I continued on our life-partners-for-a-week excursions... got dressed up, went out to dinner, and went to the show. The proposal was so sweet and I felt very much a part of it, as I was responsible for taking pictures:) Congratulations, Tro-Jen!



November: uh...

December: Okay, so Trav-dawg and The Sequence have been doing incredibly well.. They won the Pac-Sun Tour for Los Angeles and have had some really awesome opportunities! I'm so proud to know Travis. He is sooo dope and so kind. When I moved at the end of last summer, Travis learned one of my favorite songs on the guitar and played it for me before I left. He's so talented. Me, Madyson, Erikka, Britney, and Chelsea all packed into the car and once again, drove to Downtown Disney to support Trav. The show was so great. It was cool to see such a great turnout. The sound was incredible, they played my favorite song of theirs, and I just loved my night! It was fun to go out with the girls...



That's all.

I'm a December baby.

So there is this great Ingrid Michaelson song called "December Baby"... I don't know what it's about, but I like the song and the title:)



MORAL OF MY STORY: October and November are currently ranked as my least favorite months of 2009. So, I've made a goal for December to be my most highly favored month of 2009. I'm trying to do something fun every single day. Doesn't have to be over-the-top or anything, I just want to spice up my month!



We all know (because I'm a vicious advertiser) that my birthday is December 14th. That's a Monday. Put it in your calendar. I always get an amazing birthday dinner, care of La Perry Familia. But this year, I'm away on my birthday. Nevertheless, I think it will be a great day! Even when I never do anything big to celebrate, I still wear a smile on my face the whole day. I. Love. My. Birthday.

I have some fun events already on the docket for the month... And I've already had a great time, even though it is only Day 4. I will catch you up on everything later.



I hope your December is perfect. I love the holidays and spending time with people you love. I love the music, the yummy candles, the spirit, the giving, the parties, the decorations. I love it all!! Remember to tell your friends and family how much you care about them. I always worry that I don't do that enough... So, everybody, I LOVE YOU!!

Love,

Your December Baby

continued...

I saw the movie Blindside with my family and I got to sit next to Baby Perry, who was a PERFECT little gentleman during the movie:) Speaking of gentleman, I forgot to add how gentlemanly my friend Tony is. He opened my door EVERYWHERE and escorted me to and from the car. Amazing. Okay... back to the movie. Bawled my eyes out at multiple points. I was so overwhelmed with how generous that family was! Someday, I want my household to be like that; accepting, giving, loving, etc. What a difference a little bit of kindness can make! Go see the movie.



Saturday was the BYU vs. UTAH game, and let me tell you, there is nothing holy about that war. I watched with Katie and Chris Hogue and Chelsea DeVisser. It felt good to be back at the Arbon (now Hogue) household again. Went home pretty early to prepare for my drive back to CA the next morning!

I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Anyone who knows me knows how much I like being in a car. About a zero. I won't say much, but I will say that what was supposed to be a 9.5 hour drive miraculously turned into a 14.5 hour drive.

Being back to warm weather is nice:) This week should be fun. My friend Travis is playing at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney on Thursday. What an accomplishment! So that will be a good show:) And then Friday night is the HB dance. I am now a proud member of the dance committee, so needless to say, it will be poppin.

Life is good over here on my end. I feel more blessed every day and I know that the big guy is looking out for all of us.

"Love, live life, proceed, progress." --my only Lil' Wayne quote that will stick around for a long time:)

time flies...

I can't believe it's been three weeks! I feel like I just posted.... Guess not.



Well, time flies when you're working hard! Here at the ol' tax firm we've all been putting in our overtime. Our deadline for filing our appeals was yesterday, so appeal season is officially OVER! I wish I could express how happy I am. The only problem is that now I get to deal with all the clean-up and all the mail we're going to be getting and all of the follow-ups and crap. But at least I'm under no pressure-- our whole office was breaking a sweat yesterday trying to finalize everything. My coworker clocked in 57 hours of OVERTIME. In addition to his 75 normal working hours. Can you believe that? Now he's suffering from some type of stress-induced flu. Haha!! Just Kidding. That's not funny.

Last week was a little hectic. A bunch of really long days. Wednesday, in fact, never ended!! Hopped up out my bed, came to the office, worked til midnight, then drove through the night to get to Utah for Thanksgiving. Mom, I'm sorry I didn't help at all with the cooking. I could've done the French Silk Pie, but I couldn't keep my eyes open!! I got home early in the afternoon, slept for an hour, ate a DELICIOUS meal with my family and my Kordsiemon cousins, and then got to hang out with some of my nearest and dearest.

I wish I had pictures!! My b.f. Jordan was in town from Hawaii for the day and I got to spend some good quality time with him. Jordy has been so good to me!! I love him and his family so much. They are such great examples. SO. Jord and I went over to our dear friend Jake's house. Jake is a ten, ladies. If you want someone who is righteous, hardworking, athletic, smart, and who has beautiful brown eyes, look no further. Jakey, I love you. After a little bit of time at Jake's, our good friend Tony came over. Tony goes to West Point in New York and so it is a rare and blessed occasion that we get to see him! Over the summer, Tony broke his wrist and so he couldn't attend one of his field trainings. This, in addition to our mutual state of unemployment, made for three weeks of one of the best summers I have ever had!! I loved being in the Day Club with Tony. He, like his 'twin' Jake, is a ten. I'm going to New York to visit him soon at Hogwarts... Can't wait! Tone bud, I love you. Later that night, T and I went to Reese's house. As we all know, Reese was my first date, and I remind him every time I see him that we've been dating for 7 years:) He's so tall and so kind!! Of course, Cook was also over there. I had a crush on Ryan Cook from 1st grade until 6th grade. For some reason, I just can't get out of the friend zone! ahhahaha! Cook, I love you too.

Hm. I wasn't planning on writing about my friends... But I guess, why not?! I've known all of these boys since elementary school. So, I'm gonna round up and say I've known them my whole life. I've been very blessed to be associated with such a high caliber of men!! Boys don't blog. So it's safe to brag about them here:)

My good friend Neil Aboshamaa taught me that making your blog too long makes it boring. So I'm going to start a new post. But my thoughts are just going to continue... haha