Book surprise

   Around Christmas time I noticed that Barnes and Noble had a lot of classic books with nice leather covers.  I really wanted to get some of my favorite books leatherbound because I want special copies of them.  As probably everyone knows Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book, but of course that was not one of the books that I could get.  They had it in this set with other books that I was not super interested in, but did not have it for sale by itself.  I told Jason that if he could find it that I would love to have it for Christmas.  I did not get it for Christmas so I figured that he could not find it.  Earlier this week Jason said he had a surprise for me.  When he got home he gave me the copy of Pride and Prejudice that I wanted.  He had gone to Barnes and Noble and asked them about the book.  They found it in another state and had it sent to the store that is on Jason's route, where he picked it up.  I was so surprised and I love it.  I am so grateful to Jason who tries so hard to make me happy and makes me feel so loved.  I love the book, but I also love the effort that Jason put into getting it and I will always cherish the book because of that. 

Puzzle

   Jason and I love to do things together, but after ten years of being married sometimes it feels like we have done almost everything.  We have probably played hundreds of games of Ticket to Ride and there are only so many times we can go to Target for our date nights.  So I thought maybe to "spice things up" that we should do a puzzle.  In the past I have not really liked puzzles, but I thought maybe it was time to give it another try.  I also thought Jason would like to do one.  So we went to a game store and instead of getting a small puzzle to try it out we decided to get a 2000 peice panaramic puzzle.  When you look at the box it does not seem that big, but when you get all the peices out you realize it is a big long puzzle.  It took us about three weeks to get it done, but we got it done on Christmas Eve.  We sort of had to get it done because we needed the puzzle for Christmas dinner.  It was actually really fun to do the puzzle and I did not get as frustrated as I thought I would although there were a few places that were hard, like the sky.  It was fun to see it all finished and kind of sucked when we had to take it all apart.  I figure in a year or two we will probably do it again.  Jason would like to do a 5000 peice puzzle but I don't think that we have the room to do one that big. 

 

Lights



   I am a little behind on blogging.  I have been busy trying to get stuff ready for my brother's wedding that is this week.  I am trying to make up for it, hence the three posts in one day.  In December we were lucky enough to go downtown a couple of times to see the lights at Temple Square.  They were very beautiful and it was fun to go see them.  We have not been downtown to see the lights for a few years, so it was good to go again.  Of course the time that we went to get pictures it was freezing and snowing, but the snow made it seem even more Christmasy.  It was also fun to go down to City Creek and be there around Christmas.  It was super packed, but still really nice.  

 

I like this picture because Jason is actually smiling in it.

Christmas

    Christmas was pretty fun this year.  I was a little worried how things would go because I had bronchitis weeks before Christmas.  Luckily I got better right before Christmas, but it did make me really behind on everything.  So instead of two trees we only had one and I did not get any Christmas goodies made that I wanted.  However, Christmas day was good and I had lots of fun.  Christmas Eve we spent the night with Jason's family and opened pajamas with them.  Christmas day my family came over and we had breakfast before we opened our presents.  Jason had the most presents to open because I bought him a bunch of stuff.  He is super spoiled.  I got him a bunch of blu rays that he wanted, a couple of daily calenders, socks, a dress shirt, a new pillow, and a helicopter which I think is his favorite present.  Jason got me some gift cards to Michaels, Joanns, Nordstroms, and a set of self-healing mats that I wanted for sewing.  I am excited about the Nordstroms gift card because I have found a pair of shoes that I want that I can get with it.  After opening presents I started on dinner and Jason went to play with his helicopter.  Almost everyone else took a nap or just talked.  After dinner we watched Muppets Christmas Carol, because we watch it every year, and then ate pie that my sister made.  After my family left Jason and I spent the rest of the night watching some of the new shows that we got.  It was just a really nice holiday week and pretty relaxing.  I am glad we got to spend time with everyone and that Jason and I got to spend some time just the two of us because it feel like we don't get to do that as much as we would like.  Jason enjoyed Christmas but he is glad that it is over because it ends his busy season at work. 

Festival of trees

  I don't know what is going on with blogger I have been having a hard time getting pictures to upload so this post is long overdue.  (I am probably doing something wrong I am not the greatest with figuring out websites.)  A few weeks ago I went to the festival of trees with Jason's family.  I have never been before.  It was pretty fun.  I did not know that there were so many people that go, it was sort of crowded.  It was neat to see all the different trees and see all the care that people put into them.  It was also neat to go because Jason volunteers every year through UPS to deliver the trees after it is over, so I was able to see some of the trees that he helps deliver.  I will probably go again but maybe earlier in the day when it is not so crowded and also when I am not sick.  I probably would have had more fun if I was not sick.   Here are some of my favorite pictures. 

My neice did not want her picture taken.

Upside down ice cream tree.

This tree was made out of pop bottles.  Not something
I would buy but I thought the concept was neat.

I thought this would be Jason's favorite tree.

My little pony tree.  This was one of my neices favorite trees. 
It was super cute. 

Reading

     This year I found a list by the BBC of the top 100 most loved books.  The list is a few years old, but they had viewers vote on their favorite books and then they ranked them.  I counted the books on the list that I have read and I had read 22.  I thought that was pretty good but not good enough and I decided that I should try and read at least half of the books on the list.  So I have been a little slow, but I have read four more books on the list in the last couple of months: Middlemarch, Black Beauty, Treasure Island, and Little Women.  I think I might have read Black Beauty years ago but I did not remember so I read it again.  I did not really like Treasure Island, I am not really into pirate stories.  I liked Little Women and I am surprised I have not read it before.  I think that it is suppose to be a book that all girls read.  Middlemarch was not easy to get through.  It is like 800 pages and the language is kind of different, but it was good.  I was proud of myself for getting through it.  Right now I am trying to get through Anna Karenina.  It is another long book which is kind of deep.  It is not easy to get through.  I have also tried to get through the Wind in the Willows, I know it is a beloved children's book, but I can not get through it.  I tried when I was younger and did not like it, and I still don't.  After I get through Anna Karenina I have a few other books that I started to read and never finished that are on the list.  I have also thought about reading the Lord of the Rings books.  They are on the list and I have read The Hobbit so I thought I should read the other books. 
    This year I also read some books not on the list, some Agatha Christie books and the Hunger Games trilogy.  I was probably one of the last people to read them, but I really liked them.  I was worried that they were going to be like the Twilight series with a huge teenage love triangle, so I was relieved when it was not the same.  I liked the Twilight books but Bella trying to decide which guy to choose got super annoying.  I have also read several books this year that I have read before; Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, The Moonstone, The Woman in White, and Jane Eyre.  Most of those books I read once a year because I love them so much. 

Shoe Surprise

  Anyone that knows me, knows that I love shoes.  When I go into a store I usually gravitate towards the shoe section.  I love pumps and the higher the better.  Lately I have been loving the shoes at Nordstroms, especially the ones that I can't afford.  While looking online I found these wonderful shoes that were nude and black with a little bow and about a four inch heel.  I fell in love with them right away.  On a shopping trip I was looking for a different pair of shoes when I saw the nude and black ones.  They were so pretty, even prettier than what they looked like online.  They were so pretty, but so expensive and so I left the store thinking about them.  Tuesday Jason said he had something for me and he hoped I would not get too mad because it was expensive.  He handed me a box and in it were the shoes I wanted.  He was so sweet to go to the store and order them for me.  They had to order them from another store because they did not have my size and he picked them up to surprise me.  So now I am the proud owner of these wonderful shoes and I am grateful that Jason thinks about me and tries to get things that I love.  I told him that I won't get any shoes for awhile since he was so nice to get me these. 

Aren't these so great.  I am so excited to wear them.