id love to stay, but i mustache

what a beautiful day is has been

:)

this christmas eve was sooo much different then all the ones we've had before.

there wasn't any wild gingerbread house competitions. no christmas eve party. no white elephant exchange. a total absence of family crammed into every bedroom and sprawled out on every couch...

just mama, pops, scooter, tay, and i.

it's the "off year" for us. also known as THE WORST THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN DURING THE HOLIDAYS. the year when all of our married siblings go to their in-laws house, instead of ours.

don't get me wrong, the five of us still party like wild animals.. but it's weird only have five instead of eleven, without the nephews and niece!

today was good though.

since we're leaving for mexico tomorrow, (technically seattle then mexico, but whateva) we decided to play it cool and keep it easy so we can dip out right when church is over.

(can you tell we're extremely anxious?)

we watched prison break all morning. of course...

then me and my mama escaped the chaos and went to get our toes done! ohh. how i want to steal those massage chairs in the dead of the night and relocate them right in front of my over sized television. 

prison break+massage chairs? YES! PLEASE!

then! mission: impossible.

if i can't get michael scofield OR sherlock holmes under my christmas tree in the next 6 hours, tom cruise will do.

all i want to do now is become a spy, or at least get a gun, or some crazy knife.

i should probably stop watching shows about breaking out of prison or killing everyone that's in my way of saving the world.

just before we did the traditional opening of christmas pajamas, we decided to brush up on the true meaning of christmas. 

we quizzed taylor on what she thought christmas was all about, and she nailed it. well, most of it.

she got the whole baby Jesus thing. and she got mary. but when we asked her who baby Jesus's earthly father was her response was... "uhhh. joseph smith."

wrong. joseph smith was defiantly NOT Jesus's earthy father.

then my mom took us to her willow tree nativity to further explain who was who, and what happened when. 

we quizzed taylor yet again! asking her who mary was holding.

her response? ..."uhhh. a baby."

yes taylor. just a baby. no big deal. IT'S JUST BABY JESUS.

love that girl..

after all the present opening and picture taking i headed over to the walters to do some extreme waxing.

it. was. glorious. 

we waxed arms, legs, noses, backs, chests, eyebrows, armpits, mustaches, and even toes!

if any of you know tom walters, let it be known that i waxed that man's nose and he was a champ! we had to cover his awesome stache of course, but we got that bad boy clean!

along with all the other walter boys and in-laws.

talk about cheap entertainment. 

loved it.

 now it's almost 2:00 in the morning. me and taylor are sprawled out in my bed watching alvin and the chipmunks, singing along to every song. tay keeps yawning extremely obnoxiously (maybe it's a hint that i should turn off my paper lanterns and call it a night.) but i know she's loving herself some chipmunks right now! and when she says "chipmunks" really fast it sounds like shizmunks.. so i might just leave it on a little bit longer for my own selfish pleasure (name that movie!).. :)

i'm ready for santa.

and the sooner i go to bed, the sooner morning will come, and then! santa time.

don't forget to say your prayers!

merry christmas

:)

8

"congratulations, i'm a hundred years old"

laptop? fixed.

ginger = happy.

the family is awesome.

i love.. you guessed it. i love being home.

today i got my nails did, sang my heart out, and i even straightened my hair! we had a big christmas adam's dinner of homemade pasta, salmon, potatoes, delicious salads and my mamas famous homemade rolls.

we even opened some christmas presents a wee bit early.

(thanks for the beautiful shirts kellie.. love them! :))

and now we've all gathered into our cozy basement, each of us with our own spot on these big leather couches, feet up, drinks in hand, movie playing.

i dont wan't to leave, but it's only going to get better from here.

tomorrow is christmas eve, then christmas, then mexico.. then the new year.

 it's on.

on like donkey kong.

9

blue tights and late nights

bad news.

my laptop is still broken.

good news?

it's getting fixed as we speak.

my pops figured the whole thing out while me and breanna were off eating glorified salads from the bistro and snapping pictures in fields filled with nothing but iced over weeds and frigid air.

and did i even have to ask? nope. he just took it from the house and left.

love that man.

i've been worried about myself lately.

worrying about if i've been doing everything i'm suppose to be doing, if i'm strutting down the right path... and blah. blah. blah. then i stop being so deep and weird and snap back to reality...

things are just fine.

i'm eating red velvet cupcakes without regret, dancing around my kitchen, and reading my scriptures like they're the twilight saga.

 sure, everything isn't perfect.

i still screw up here and there.

i miss certain people. i miss them a lot.

but i'm trying.

and i think i'm doing just dandy.

10

tre

my beautiful sister is c o m i n g  h o m e.

and she's bringing her beautiful baby and her dashing husband with her!

i cannot wait.

this means:

random homemade dinners.

fun sisterly visits.

bonding time with little mason.

televison marathons.

jam sessions. (jam as in music, not the jelly)

tech lessons with kritt.

sleepovers in their cozy little home.

masons curly little head running around.

the civic.

more and more of little mason.

desert nights.

clothes swapping.

dating advice up the ying.

and another safe haven

:)

kritt is 5 hours away from little ol' lehi.

i'm 11 hours away.

something is disgustingly wrong with this picture.

see in 11 days sister

loves and turtle doves

ceiling glued balloons

it's only wednesday.

and my laptop is b-b-b-broken!

that little piece that you can plug your charger into, to you know.. charge your laptop... IS GONE. the whole thing is missing. straight gutted from my laptop.

i'm praying that i can find that dinky little thing somewhere in this big ol' house of mine... or i'm going to become a life sized chucky.

3

be thou an example of the believers

alexis lord.

YOU.

i know nothing about you.

i have no idea where you're going to school, if you still live in moses lake or not, how long you've been a member, or what on earth you're doing with your life right now.

but i do remember having seminary with you.

yeah, i only went when my mama physically took me to seminary every morning after drill team.

all the other times i was skipping, doing God only knows what.

but when i did go, you were always there.

and you didn't just sit in the back, quietly watching us have our discussions and singing scripture masteries with those cheesy dance moves that we all secretly loved.

you were right there with us! well, more like right there with them. i was the poor example..

but you knew your stuff. you would answer tough questions, ask even better questions and at times you were answering questions that i had pondered about for years.

i have no idea if you were taking missionary discussions, or if you were even baptized yet.

back then i didn't really care.

but i do now.

i saw you at church yesterday. (you look amazing by the way)

you went and sat by yourself during sacrament.

alert and attent. paying close attention.

then you sat in front of me during sunday school and relief society. 

answering questions like you had been a member your entire life.

you had taken full advantage of every opportunity to learn more about everything and anything! it showed as you answered every little topic that came up, and you answered it well.

and there i was, sitting behind you silently kicking myself for not being exactly like you.

i've had the gospel for 19 and a half years. 

why haven't i taken full advantage of it?

you are one of the greatest examples to me.

i have no idea if your family even supports you, or if you being a member is okay to all of your friends or not.. but if it wasn't for your example i wouldn't of gained even a further testimony of the gospel. 

you're coming to church. you're doing what you're suppose to be doing. you glow.

that glow ate at my soul yesterday.

i want to be just like you.

thank you.

keep up the good work.

i have a human heart and i approve this message

church was great yesterday.

lilly and breck gave talks all about marriage, engagement, and what they wish they would've known before they had gotten engaged. 

not only are they both some of the funniest cats around.. but they had some good points.

scott kept hitting my knee throughout the entire meeting, whispering "write that down!"

my iphone note pad is full of all kinds of advice now.

so! i'll share :)

#1 be happy NOW.

so many of us, especially during this time in our lives are delaying our happiness.

don't even act like none of you think; "once i graduate, i'll be happy." or "once i get married, i'll be happy." OR! "once i move there, or do this, or do that.. i'll be happy."

I TOTALLY DO!

sure, i'm happy with where i am now.

but secretly i'm thinking.. well once i do this or that i'll really be happy.

well, i'm an idiot and so are all of you.

go and read 2 Nephi, chapter 5.

Nephi teaches us all about living in a manner of happiness... and in no way did Nephi have a peachy life.

 but as Nephi says, "we lived after the manner of happiness."

 they chose to be happy. and they weren't tucked inside decent apartments going to an amazing university. they were running into the wilderness and building a new life.

who even knows if half of them were married, or graduated from wood cutting school, or doing whatever.

either way.. they were happy.

#2 the list.

if any of you were ever a mia maid you know exactly what i'm talking about.

once you hit the beautiful age of 14 your young womens teachers sit you down and have you create a list of attributes you want in your future husband.

then they have you keep it (which you know we all do because we're all wondering who the heck this SOB is going to be and if they'll really match our list of our ideal husband) and then compare it to whatever boy you find when you're wondering if he's the one.

 they also have you make a list of things YOU want to be when you're looking for the one.

now my ward never did this, but tonight i might just write up a list... don't judge me.

i've blogged about this before; but before you can ever truly love someone else you must first love yourself.

this works for the expectations of what you want in your future spouse. 

if you want someone who knows their scriptures, maybe you should get to know yours.

do you want a spouse who is temple worthy and actually attends the temple on a weekly basis? are you attending the temple on a weekly basis? are you even temple worthy?

i can promise you if you make yourself the kind of person you would want to marry, then you'll find the person you really can marry since you can't marry yourself like sue sylvester.

#3 while being single, take the time to work on YOU!

times are simple while you're single.

trust me. i know.

i've even noticed while i mini dated a few people here and there.

while yes, it's possible to still be awesome and date whoever you want.

but it's tough to stay on track! sometimes you lose focus.

suddenly you stop reading your scriptures as frequently, or praying every morning and night.. just because you flag yourself as being too busy.

but you're never too busy for these things.. and once you find "the one" you both should be able to make each other better people by doing these things together. 

but until then.. take this time to make yourself a better you.

make yourself the best you can be without the influence of others while you can! you need a concrete foundation before you can ever begin to add on anything else.

#4 do not settle.

i know what you're all thinking.

"shut up! i know not to settle. we're only told that everyday of our lives."

but really. do not settle.

an easy way to quickly check whether you're settling or not is to ask yourself this;

is it what I want?

is it what THEY want?

and is it what HEAVENLY FATHER wants?

breck said he truly knew that lilly was the one when he asked Heavenly Father if she was and he knew that's what Heavenly Father wanted.

HELLO! it IS His plan..

#5 is it love, or lust?

too often affection can become the main focus of a relationship, so don't let it.

if you truly love someone you should want to know about their goals, needs, how they see the rest of their life, and all of their hopes and dreams!

not just what they're doing at 1:30 in the morning on a lonely night.

figure out if you have much in common before it's too late.

if you could care less about who the person really is, don't even bother.

a good test to see if your relationship will last without affection is to go two weeks without even touching each other.

if your relationship doesn't budge, you're golden.

but if it crumbles before your own eyes.. obviously it wasn't the real deal.

now you will fight, and in no way will it be perfect.

but whatever is suppose to happen will happen.

simply trust in the Lord, and he will never lead you astray..

done and done.

 5