Busy!

December is always a crazy month for me, with birthdays,shopping,Christmas parties oh and CHRISTMAS! quick recap for you!


My birthday!: My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year so it was kind of a boring day ( cause I had to work) my dad and sister took me too lunch though and that was really nice of them! Later Stephen Spoiled me and surprised me with taking me to the ROOF ! Oh if you haven't been there you need to go! A little pricey but so worth it!
We got the best seat in the house and sat right across from the Temple... It was the best night!

Really bad pic! (sorry its from my phone)

He is so CUTE :)

Work Christmas party: This year my bosses hosted the Christmas party at there house and it was catered by Toscanos ( YUM) we did a Ugly sweater competition .. ( I don't have any pictures?) Long story short we didn't win :( there was some STRONG competition! but on top of my Christmas bonus I won "Wicked" tickets and a Jamba Juice gift card! They had a trip up for grabs.. but I unfortunately didn't win :( Maybe next year! Christmas parties are the BEST!

Kelsey's bridal Shower: I was able to help host one of my best friends bridal shower, It was so fun! good food! fun girls! presents! yummy treats!

Today Stephen walked in and said " On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me was a caramel  apple" and pulled out a yummy caramel apple from his backpack... I'm guessing he is starting a new tradition.. Cant wait to see what else is to come! He is so cute! Always trying to make me happy! I'm one lucky girl!

Thanksgiving

Last week was Thanksgiving! Oh I just love Thanksgiving! Its a great excuse to eat and hang out with the family all day! I woke up on Thursday with my husband gone ( turkey bowl) and a BIG FAT news paper on my bed with a note written on the front page that said "Happy Thanksgiving baby!! #1 thing I am grateful for is you! I love you!" aww! two of my favorite things! love notes and Black Friday newspaper! its been a tradition to watch the Macy's Day Parade! oh its so great! So for a few hours Chloe and Allen and my self snuggled in bed and watched the parade while we waited for Stephen to come home. Later that night we went to Grandma and Grandpa Hallings for Thanksgiving dinner, ( I am so bad at taking pictures on holidays.. sorry) It was fun to get together with the Hallings! Grandma and Grandpa Halling are the sweetest people you'll ever meet! I could just sit and talk to grandpa all day! Every time we leave I always say to Stephen " He is so dang cute!" they both just have the purest hearts! I'm very grateful for them! After the Hallings we went over to my parents house for our "2nd" dinner,  Its always a wild (loud) time at my house! After dinner the planning and plotting begins... We are those CRAZY black Friday shoppers! It is literally like a sport to us, there is about 10 of us crazies running through the stores! I say its one of the BEST holidays EVER! 5 scratches, a couple of bruises and 10 sleepless hours later... we got everything + more on our list!on top of all that craziness I put up all my Christmas decorations...By myself , (Stephen was playing soccer) which was fun except if you haven't seen my tree it is 10 ft tall... yeah that was a workout! but its up and it looks fabulous if I do say so myself!  it was an awesome weekend, I just wish it wouldn't go by so fast! I'm excited for this week.. My 22nd Birthday, The Festival of Trees! Yahoo! I love the Holidays!

 This is the BEST Candle EVER! Its from Bath and Body, EVERYONE needs this in there home for the holidays! ( they are on sale right now... 2 for 20!)

 I made Stephen come stand by the tree to show people how big that thing is! Stephen is 6'3

My sweet love note on my black Friday newspaper... its really hard to read :)

Change is in the air!

         Over these last few months I have been thinking about what I want to do for my career... It kinda all hit me like a ton of bricks I guess you could say... I have been taking pictures for the past few months and I absolutely love it! I Love the outcome of the pictures and making people happy! So... I have decided to further my education and learn more about photography. I am so excited to start a career that I love! My wonderful parents have let me use their awesome camera, but I guess its time for me to purchase my own! Stephen and I have gone and looked at some REALLY nice cameras and I found the perfect one! (its pretty expensive... so I have to save up for a bit) I signed up for classes in January, I honestly cant wait! YAHOO! It is the kinda job I like.. I will be my own boss, and when the time comes to have little babies I will be able to adjust my hours! sounds great huh?! One of the girls that I shot for , her husband knows the"Utah Brides Magazine" editor and he wants me to meet with her! AHH! how awesome! I'm so grateful for all the opportunities that are coming my way!

This week was a fun one! Stephen and I had Friday off, we hung out all day! later that night we went to dinner with my little sister Kenadie to Chick-Fil-A! oh its our favorite place EVER! Then we went and saw "Breaking Dawn" I Must say having my 13 yr old sister sitting next me while there was like a 15 min sex seen ( seemed like a hour) was a little awkward and inappropriate.. But over all I thought the movie was OK. Its Twilight! what can you say! Don't tell Stephen that I told you this but... He was really excited to go to the movie with me! He wanted to buy tickets months ago :) But sadly he HATED the movie HA! I don't think he will be coming to then next one with me! 

   So some of you may know that our lease is up in January... We have been trying to save for a house for a little while now, its hard when you have a lot of bills and the rent keeps going up every time we renew our contract.. it gets a little hard. So my parents have invited us to move into their basement...I am actually really excited about it! We will be able to save so much money for a house it will be great! We both get along great with my family! We know somethings will change! But anything to help get started on the whole house process is very much appreciated! We are only planning on living there for a few months... so we will see how it goes! We are very optimistic about the new changes coming our way! 

I am very excited about this week.. THANKSGIVING. FAMILY. FOOD. BLACK FRIDAY. Yahoo! I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS! 

CHECK OUT MY NEW BLOG! 

shayleigrace.blogspot.com 

October recap!

October! One of my most favorite months! It went by way to fast though! its already November?? what the! Stephen keeps saying that he is so excited for BLACK FRIDAY! (one of the best holidays). Okay a Quick recap! 

The Witch Festival~

We have a tradition to go the the Witch Festival every year at Gardener Village   ( GIRLS ONLY) 

I look forward to it every year! Everyone there is dressed up as witches! it is so cool! We always have a GREAT time! 

Apple Butter~  A new fun tradition I was able to be apart of this year was making apple butter with the Hallings! YUM! I had never heard of apple butter before ... its like a 2 day ordeal! Day1: peal ALOT of apples! Day 2: Put apples in a HUGE kettle...with some other ingredients... and you have to use this huge paddle looking thing to stir it. It has to be stirred constantly for like 10 hours! its a long process! but it was fun to be able to hang out with our family! they left with over 90 jars of apple butter! we will be set for life :) 

One of my BEST FRIENDS ever got engaged to her best friend this month! I am so excited for her! CONGRATS AMY & DANE!  

Disneyland! Oh my! I just love Disneyland especially in the fall! My work had a training in CA for a day so they paid for me to get down there and the hotel so i just had to get Stephen down there. We stayed for the whole weekend! It was so much fun! everything is better in Disneyland...cotton candy, popcorn :) It really gets me so excited to take our kids there someday! I saw so many little princesses and buzz lightyears, their smiles were so dang cute! I couldn't help but stare at the young families having the best time! gets me really excited! its such a magical place! I am a 5 year old princess when I go :) We got to experience the World of Color... WOW! one of the COOLEST things I have ever seen, I actually got emotional... if you have seen it you will know exactly what i am talking about! I encourage EVERYONE to go! We meet up with Stephens Aunt Amy while we were down there, we went to dinner with her, it was nice to catch up! I cant wait to go back! 

Halloween! Halloween was fun! its also my little sisters birthday! Every year we go over to my parents house my mom makes her AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS chili! My mom dresses up as a scary person and likes to scare the kids ( in a nice way :) ) this year we hung out with family for a little bit then we went over to our friend chaydens house to hang out with all of our friends! this year Stephen dressed up as Russel brand and I was a Vampire! It was a fun night to be with everyone! (pics will come soon) 

Today My cute friend Shawna and her Husband Andrew had their first baby boy! I am so excited for them! they are going to be the cutest parents! CONGRATS! 

Blessings

I have lots to write about! lets see... Fall is basically gone :( makes me sad. It seems to be the shortest season. I am so happy with how things are going right now.. things really cant get any better! I had a major blessing in disguise a couple months ago... back then it seemed like hell. Sometimes it takes a bad thing to make something even better then it was before! Its a strange thing to say it... but I'm so glad for that trial in my life. My mom told me "its either going to make or break you" I'm glad to say it totally made me and for the better! I can honestly say Stephen and I have NEVER been better! I get so excited to see everyday when I get home! He is amazing and I'm so grateful that we overcame this obstacle in our lives. We let go of the small and dumb things that were holding us back, we are moving forward! I love him with all my heart! we have a long ways to go but its going to be worth it! sometimes I don't understand why bad things happen. But you really have to put all your faith in Heavenly father... It always works out for the best! I'm so grateful!

Bye bye summer!

      So its been a minute since I have posted! Its been a CRAZY, blurry, fast summer! Things are simmering down which is good.. I can finally breathe! these past few months have been a bit challenging, but one thing is for sure I'm so grateful for family and friends. Through all the hard crazy times they never seem to stray. I'm glad that I have sisters that I can talk to . I'm grateful for my friends they are always trust worthy and supporting. I'm grateful for my parents, they are always there with me through thick and thin. I very grateful for my heavenly father, he knows me best, he knows the real me. I can always turn to him. I'm grateful for the people I have in my life! I am very blessed. 

Quick catch up! 

my little Chloe and Allen are the best of friends! ( my cat and dog) Oh I just love them! 

Work is going good! I work with so many fun people!

Stephen is doing good, working full time and going to school! staying busy! 

I'm excited for Fall! its my favorite time of the year! I love the weather, leaves, colors, and Halloween! Cant wait! :)

 My little chloe 

 The Boys 

One year Anniversary!

Well we made it! :) We made it with out getting pregnant hehe ;) I cant believe it has been one year since we got sealed in the temple! that was such a great day! Stephen is my best friend! he is always there to comfort me and love me! Well for our one year anniversary we went to Boston and New York at the beginning of this month ... so we decided to make things simple and just go to a dinner and a movie :) and for my gift.. Stephen got me a cute little baby puppy :) her name is chloe! She is a blast! cant wait for next year ;)

 

Boston/ New York

At the beginning of this month we went to Boston and New York...Wow was it amazing! We were so grateful to be able to go to such amazing places! First BOSTON was AMAZING by far one of the COOLEST cities I have ever been to,Fenway,Salem, the little towns were so cute. I told Stephen that I want to live there someday! Second! NEW YORK was so cool, its a place that I have always wanted to go to... and finally we were able to ! the energy of New York is unreal! it is defiantly a different way of living! I will most defiantly be going back to both cities! 

(not in order)

 Our first glance at NYC!

 Tiffanys :)

 Hotel Night

 the bed was glowing...

 BEST CHEESECAKE EVER

 EMPIRE STATE

 LADY LIbERTY 

 mini cupcakes... yum!

 so excited for Boston!

 SALEM

 Rhode Island

 Newport mansions!

 Check out all that jewelry! 

 FENWAY

 THe hot dogs were AMAZING!

 The highways to NewYork were like this the whole way! so pretty!

 Times Square

 Sad to go home! 

Allen missed us :)

 My favorite souvenir ;)