east of eden.

Fully satisfied. I finished East of Eden by John Steinbeck a couple weeks ago and was... fully satisfied! What a beautiful book, that i would highly recommend to anyone out there with any hankering to pick up a good book.

This is the dashing picture of Mr. Steinbeck that was on the back cover of my book so it holds a special place in my heart. I think he's fabulous. How he can write a book so complete and connected and maybe... heart wrenching is beyond my realm of understanding. I think I can say that only because my own heart was wrenched a few times. There were times I would have to stop &just think about what he had written because it was so thought-provoking. And times when I would read 4x as much as I had planned. Good thing it's long. :]]

d & r thanksgiving #1.

first THANKSGIVING together!!

we are BLESSED. it was wonderful. i had the new experience of being in charge of vital parts of the feast.. including punkin pie, banana cream pie, &a whole lot of homemade rolls. first time cooking any of these things by myself &i just really did not want to ruin it for everyone. i cooked/baked WITH ABANDON you may say... a few too many screams/groans, at least 14 calls to my mother, at least 2 emails to her with pictures of the dough ["does this look okay?"] maybe a tear or two, a couple pep-talks from dan, a last minute trip to the piggly wiggly, thinking all is lost, falling onto my knees on my flour-covered kitchen floor in hopelessness, some help from my perfect man... &all was well. we all ate &were happy.

we feasted with three other couples from the ward [batteens, koerners, richards] &elder durocher &shaffer. after dinner we went &saw THE BLINDSIDE which i highly recommend (don't watch the whole trailer, it gives away too much). we even payed for the expensive movie theatre tickets! prettty fancy! the rest of the night consisted of football [of course!], lots of pie, &even hot-tubbing in the crisp fall air. for being hundreds of miles away from our families, it was a pretty good thanksgiving!;]

pre-thanksgiving pump up.

we've been real busy having lots of fun:].

alabama has done great things to my wardrobe!

we went fishin &i caught my first bass! dan caught a bass &a big [yucky] catfish! look at those WHISKERS.

we had a pre-thanksgiving feast with kelly &andrew. we played an INTENSE game of jenga, &had the most DELICIOUS salmon grilled to perfection on cedar planks. not to mention the shrimp &pineapple cabobs, baked potatoes, &glazed carrots:].

thanksgiving morning = turkey bowl. perfect beginning to a perfect day. check that boy out!

he hurt his hand &now it's huge &swollen.

sugar.

i adore my husband. i just feel this need to post it for the entire WWW to have the opportunity to browse if they so desire. we just love to play together like we are seven. laughing and teasing all the day long [when we're not fighting, of course ;)]. but really. there's so much love in our little upstairs apartment. lately i decided to change my view &try a lot harder to not be so sensitive, let things go, & "just simply be happy." it has been working marvelously. i am amazed at how easy it is when i let it. why do i make things more complicated than they are sometimes?

we haven't gone to the store in a while, since we are mr. & mrs. skkrimp... so tonight we made sort of biscuit/scone contraption out of butter, flour, sugar, milk, etc. it was funny. we ate them &even liked them!

he dances with me in the kitchen.

he does crafts with me.

he won't fall asleep without me.

he plays me songs on his guitar when i ask him to.

he does the dishes after dinner.

he always thanks me for dinner.

&i know how much he loves me by the way he hugs me when he gets back from work.

just love him a lot is all. simple as that.

how poor are we?!

i had a job interview today &if all goes well i will be starting work at the big hospital here [DCH] on january 4 [happy birthday ashley]! nothing is sure quite yet... we've only had the preliminary interview. the reason we are waiting for almost 2 months for me to start is so we can go home for CHRISTMAS &stay for 2-3 WEEKS! i am so ecstatic about this new development. what could be more wonderful? dan's family is coming down to st. george after christmas so we get to see both our families!

dan is extremely stressed about money &yesterday i had to convince him to let us have $20 to spend on each other for christmas presents... it was very disturbing to me that we were even having this conversation. so in order to contribute i signed up to be a babysitter at care.com. i hope someone will call me so i can buy a christmas present for my HUSBAND!! my goodness. anyone have any other ideas for a little housewife like me?

we saw joshua james (click &listen!) in concert last weekend & they were AMAZING! they were encored. everyone loved HIM. no surprise:). but we love him the most. he just came out with a new CD, build me this. "in the middle" is my current favorite. &of course "coal war" is our first love.

he had been awake for approximately 30 seconds. we love him a lot.
shout out to mommy for the bessemer thrift store SHOPPING SPREE!! sweater, compliments of.
look at the big california smile:].

november. goals.

i am sorting my goals by month now. thanks to my most creative &cute friend mikaela.

make pumpkin cheesecake.

make pumpkin choco-chip muffins/cookies.

make mom's homemade rolls for thanksgiving dinner.

get a job.

make serious leeway on christmas gifts. [!!!!!!!!]

go hot tubbing.

don't gain that holiday pie/fudge pudge.

finish east of eden.

decorate second bedroom.

picture project for kitchen. [!!!!!]

paper lanterns project.

do lots of service.

dan is officially WORKING! tutoring the sweetest little kindergartens &1st &2nd graders that i love hearing stories about. he's worked the past 3 days. i am adjusting. we've never had to be apart since matrimony hardly besides an occasional fishing trip and i'm just not quite used to it. i need at least five new hobbies for my days at home. ones that cost no money since we are sKRIMPING these days. anyone have any ideas?