Christmas Happenings

Well, now that Christmas is only 2 days away, here's a short recap of a few things we were able to do this December:

We bought our Christmas tree two days after Thanksgiving and decorated it a few days later. We get a new ornament every year - this year, we got a Jim Shore stocking ornament. I tried to find a picture, but I didn't have any luck, so you'll just have to imagine it. As you can tell, we're all set with presents, too. Spencer, there's a box under that tree with your name on it!

We were lucky enough to attend Erin's first concert on temple square. They did an awesome job, and sang two songs that I sang back when I was in Musettes, so that was fun! She looked beautiful (I just have to brag, she's wearing my old choir dress in the above photo, which makes me so happy), and she escaped with minimal embarrassment from Landon, so all around it was a successful venture.

We also got tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. I had never been before - it was amazing! I love, love Natalie Cole and it's always fun to be in the Conference Center. It was also a great feeling to see and be in the room with President Monson. It's always a pleasure to feel the spirit of the Lord's prophet.

Last, but certainly not least, we have big news! My older brother, best friend, second favorite person in the world, is engaged!!! Congrats, Josh and Candice, welcome to the party. We're really proud of you guys for everything you're doing, and we're super excited for your wedding this spring! Love you!

We are looking forward to heading up to Rexburg today to hang out with the Burgeners for Christmas! Happy holidays everyone!

Jesse and Catherine

I had the wonderful opportunity to take my first set of engagement photos a few weeks ago. The results are finally published on my photography blog. I'm pretty excited about them. I feel like every time I do another photo session, I learn a little more and gain a little more confidence. It has been a fun and rewarding journey. One more session and I will have enough to buy my new camera!

Good luck, Jesse and Catherine! We are so happy for you!

Two out of Three

My sister has a theory that you can do two out of three things when it comes to being a wife: Eat healthy, stick to a budget, and work full-time. It's possible to do two of these, but all three can't be done.

The last two weeks, I had to choose. We have been extremely fortunate in our married life. I have a job with full benefits, we have zero debt, and we live in a pretty nice place. But by no stretch of the imagination are we rolling in the dough. The last week and a half, we have been waiting patiently for my paycheck to come through so that we could finally come home with this:

Man, it is such a relief to have food in the house again! We've been getting quite creative, cooking without chicken, cheese, rice, or produce - in order to stick to our budget. Needless to say, the healthy part has completely gone out the window while we lived on pasta, ramen, mac and cheese, and hamburger helper. We can now return to salads, fruit, sandwiches, and low fat entrees. *Insert collective sigh of relief here.* Landon was so excited about his grapefruit breakfast this morning it was borderline comical. I mean, what guy likes grapefruit for breakfast? Apparently one who has been deprived of nutrients for awhile.

Disclaimer: I don't want anyone to think we are poor or suffering, we're totally not. We are just trying to spend less than we make, and sometimes when you're still going through college, especially in holiday mode, that gets a little tricky. We're actually quite proud of ourselves for making it through the week. Go team go!

My Husband...

Has been doing lots of this:

And this:

Along with a little of this:

And some of this:

All so I can do this:

And maybe a little of this:

Isn't he the greatest? We are drudging through the last few weeks of finals/event season/grad school and internship applications/Christmas preparation so that we can celebrate with the Burg fam soon! We are definitely looking forward to the break.