Rain!

It's raining today. I'm listening to christmas music. Cleaning the house. Doing some laundry and baking. I love it! For some reason this christmas season REALLY feels like Christmas. Last year at this time i was dieting. (not really). trying on wedding dresses. creating center pieces. and getting ready for my wedding. I love the holidays. Christmas really is the best time of year. (but summer is pretty high up there too)

I hope you're having an awesome day!

the Evans family

Here is Chris and Paige and there adorable little dog, Joey. There were so many great shots, it was hard to choose but here are some of my favorites...

Thanks guys...I had a blast!

It started off last friday, my parents rented a suburban and took us all up to Arizona for baby Lily's blessing. It was a blast! we went wakeboarding (in november) with wetsuits, saw my dad's new house (which is beautiful), saw Kyle and Kylee's new house, the boys bonded at the skate park and of course i got to spend some quality time with my 2 handsome nephews and 1 beautiful niece. It was short but awesome. We need to make this more of a habit family! (we missed you annie)

then Annie and Jason came over monday for some dinner and bonding. It was fun. We love them and can't wait for christmas cause we get to hang out ALL the time =]

THEN...tuesday we drove up to utah to visit Pehrson's Grandparents and his mom and dads side of the family were all up there. It was fun and relaxing and cold and lots and lots of good food! Yummy...I love thanksgiving =]

I got to see one of my FAVORITE persons in the WORLD! Sister Cumins! She never looked so happy and beautiful. She is loving her mission and you can tell just by looking at her that she's an awesome missionary.

We had a little bonfire in gma&gpa's backyard. I didn't last very long...it was freezing out there and the fire could only keep you warm for so long. (i don't know how the pioneers did it!)

Thanksgiving Day!

The crew we ate with...the "Hawkley" side

Every time Pehrson and Ryan get together, they have to arm wrestle. Ryan is determined to beat Pehrson and has been "training" (working out) this whole semester to beat him. Sorry Ryan maybe next time...but seriously, single ladies who are willing to wait two years for this kid...look at those arms. =]

then being the good big brother/oldest cousin that he is, Pehrson set up a snow ball fight that actually turned out to be a pretty good battle. I was a sissy this year and didn't participate, it was cold and i didn't have gloves or good shoes. But i supported, took pictures and cheered on those who were getting covered with ice. Oh, and yes, Pehrson has a mustache. (I may or may not have put a little mascara on the stache so you can see it better) ha.

we also got to go to temple square on friday night and look at all the lights. I've never seen them in Salt Lake before and it was beautiful...every single branch is covered in lights, it's pretty amazing.

Pehrson and I are starting a little tradition. You might remember we did this exact same pose in this same spot a couple months ago. Every time we make a trip to Salt Lake we are gonna try and take this same picture. I think it will be cool to see over the years.

All and all it's been a great couple weeks, THanks family for being so awesome and making thanksgiving and the az trip possible. We love you all and are so grateful to have you all in our lives. Hawkley/Allen families, thanks for taking me in and making me feel so comfortable, you guys are easy to love. Now we have christmas to look forward to, our ONE year anniversary and...drum roll please...our CRUISE! that's right, we are going on a 7 day cruise down to mexico. SO excited. Hope everyone had a fun holiday.

Hugs.

good read

I read a book the other day in record time, 3 days. Usually when i read books i get distracted or board and never really get around to finishing it. But believe it or not mom...i do enjoy reading! (you probably thought you'd never hear that from me) ha but its true. Especially when you get a book you can't put down. The title of this book stuck out to me, "Please, Stop Laughing at Me." It's all about school bullying and how this girl grows and overcomes her HORRIBLE childhood. Basically this girl was the only child and grew up with mostly adults, she was very mature for her age, which made it easy for the other kids to make fun of her. There were some parts in the book where I felt saddened for this poor girl. Anything and everything she did was wrong and people tortured her like crazy over things that I would do to. For example, she loved volunteering with the special ed children and the other kids after school would beat her up because they would say she was one of the "retards." She always stood up for what she believed in, which was usually the right thing and these punk kids would literally BEAT her up for doing what was right. After reading this book I couldn't believe that kids would really be that mean to someone who was doing their best. It made me scared to think of what my future children will have to go through someday and if they will be strong enough to stand up for whats right and be proud of who they are.

I'm the type of person who HATES seeing people get hurt, physically or emotionally. I used to cry when the show "COPS" was on. (which was my little sisters favorite show at one time). Ha but I remember once I was waiting at the bus stop in 7th grade with a bunch of other kids and one of the girls there was a little overweight and these 8th grade boys were running around her singing the song "around the world, around the world..." the poor girl was crying and i was physically getting sick to my stomach watching this. I stood up and pushed the boys and starting yelling at them to "leave her alone!" (if you know me, that is not my sort of thing) but i couldn't help it. I was lucky enough to weed through some friends and find the ones that respected and knew my beliefs and still loved me for it. I was put in countless situations where i had to be the example cause I knew there were people watching my every move. It's funny how life works and as you get older and realize whats "really" important in life you laugh at all the times you were stressed or concerned about the stupid things.

I am so grateful to have the family that i have. My parents and my in-laws. What a blessing it is to find people who are always cheering for you no matter what the case. They are always on your side and want the best for you. I am thankful for this beautiful gospel that I am a part of. I don't know where i would be without it. I thankful for my Savior and all that He does. I'm thankful for my health and for my apt and food. I thankful for my wonderful siblings and their spouses and all my new nephews and nieces. I thankful for a warm sunny day. I'm thankful for the smells and the colors surrounding this beautiful earth. And of course...I'm thankful for my wonderful husband, he's the best and always makes me want to be a better person. The list can go on forever...

BUT...Remember to say thanks and I wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

go trojans!

this weekend we went to the USC game. It was there homecoming game and it was OUT OF CONTROL! there were a million tailgate parties on campus and millions of people decked out in USC gear. Pehrson and I don't have any USC apparel, so we just wore there colors, (we will have to change that soon)

If any of you saw the game you would know that we didn't do so good. Actually it was the worst loss they have had since 1966. I guess we are bad luck. oops!

And i think i mentioned before that we were smores for halloween, but my camera ran out of batteries so i got these from a friend (thanks Kim). This was extremely last minute, i think we got ready in like 20 minutes. So needless to say it could've been a little bit better. But, it was still fun.

And these are the Kids i nanny. Veterans day they had off so we had the whole day to hang out and we went to see the 3D movie "the Christmas Carol" to be honest, it was kind of dark. But it was cool in 3D.

Life is GOOD!

great weekend

Our weekend started early. Thursday we went to the premiere showing of Rob Machado's movie "the drifter" and he played live music. It was awesome. It wasn't your typical surf movie. I think most people would like it whether you surf or not but i suggest it to everyone.

The man of the hour! Yeah we got a picture with him and his awesome hair.

Then Friday we drove down to carlsbad, san diego and spent the weekend camping with jon, jill and baby dane. It was beautiful. I love san diego...hopefully we will end up down there someday. But, who knows? that won't be for a while! Here is the view from our campsite...

another one...

the men doing the manly thing

photo shoot with dane...we needed annie and kylee to complete our sister pictures! SOON!

eating breakfast on the folded table. thanks facers

whats camping without a guitar and harmonica?

I love this picture. totally candid!

It was a great weekend! We need to plan one with the WHOLE family next! love you guys.

Hollywood

It's kind of amazing to think that when people who live in another country think about the United States, they think of Hollywood or New York. When really most of the US is open country with lots of land and fresh air. We took a hike the other day up to the hollywood sign and got to the top and looked down on this HUGE city with its HUGE buildings and its huge layer of smog. HA and it reminded of a time when I lived in a cabin in the middle of the Teton mountains for 2 months with no buildings, no T.V. (not that i watch it anyways) barely any cell phone service. Just a bed, clean air, lots of stars and 29 other students with me. It made me think about whats important in life. And depending on where you live affects your lifestyle. When i lived in Idaho I lived in the true country where I had to drive in snow and wear lots of layers and live miles and miles away from the ocean. But, i survived and to be honest, I LOVED it! When i first got my acceptance to idaho...i cried...and I cried the entire way up there. (no joke, ask my parents) Idaho was the LAST place I wanted to go. Away from my friends, away from my family away from "my World" I said that i would only be there for a year...then 2 and then I loved it so much i wanted to stay all 4. It was probably the biggest growing point of my life, I learned so much about myself and I knew I was there for a reason. I'll probably never live there again, but it was definitely a time that i will never forget.

Then HAWAII...I don't even know where to begin! My love for hawaii is endless. When i first moved out there in 2006 it was love at first sight. I took some classes and got an amazing tan. And when it was time to leave, i was sad. But, 2 years later I knew i was supposed to go back to hawaii and GOOD thing I did. Everything about hawaii is beautiful/perfect. The people, the scenery, the LIFESTYLE. I would give anything to be back there. You don't have a lot (like, stores and stuff) really close, which i personally loved! You just had everything you needed and if you had an urge to go shopping you only had to travel an hour to the other side of the island. BUT, true talent comes from hawaii and they are raised that way. Just naturally talented and beautiful at every sport. I would love to raise my kids there (for a while). Hawaii is how life should be. Simple. Peaceful. Happy.

LOS ANGELES...has been my home for 2 1/2 months now. It is way different then I thought and much different then Orange County. what's so different you ask? well, the people, the lifestyle, THE TRAFFIC, the city. People seem to always be in a hurry around here. They get mad super fast (especially when driving) and are very materialistic. Don't get me wrong, I am really liking it here, it's definitely a change. I just wish that life could be more simplistic. And LA definitely has it's beauties. We live by millions of trees and you can hear the birds chirping all the time. We live kind of close to the ocean and we are here together. I can live anywhere in this world as long as i'm with my one and only. LA has been an adventure and we are excited to see what happens here. Some pics from our hike...

Heavenly Father is the BEST artist! He created such a beautiful world for us to live on. I don't know how it can get better.