Congrats Big Sis!!

Today my big sister Natalie is graduating with her MASTERS degree in Education!  I'm so proud of her and all the hard work that went into this degree with not only one, but two kids!  She is such a hard worker and smart!  I look up to her a lot and we call each other about our teaching yay's and woes.  She has been a big help/inspiration to me in my education and now that I am a teacher I have even more questions for her!  She is a fantastic teacher and all her students love her!  Congrats Nat!!  You deserve it!  Sorry I can't be there...but being a teacher you understand what a PAIN it is to get a sub!  Love you!

The Rivalry

This may come as a shock to many of you but this was my FIRST rivalry game!  I grew up as a cougar fan (as many of you know) since my Dad is a die hard Y fan!  He was heartbroken when I decided to go to Utah State but told me since their colors were blue and white, it was okay.  Ha ha ha. 

I have watched many many BYU vs. U of U games but never been in attendance before.  We sat with a bunch of other couples in our ward and had a good time.  Here is a pic of Shauna and I when things were going great.  Sun still out, Cougs ahead...yeah, things were good. 

Then, the temperature dropped as well as the cougar lead.  Into the 4th quarter our lead began to narrow and I got a knot in my stomach.  I don't think Zack has ever seen me so worried or tense. I was yelling and screaming for it to NOT go into overtime.  Murphy's law thought it would teach me a lesson (as it often does) and into over time we went.   We ended up pulling it off!!  We couldn't have been more thrilled!

We were so excited that we ran down with the rest of the crazy fans and rushed the field!

Here is a VERY happy Zack and I on the field

Woo Cougars!  Bragging rights for the next year!  

Christmastime at the Pugh's

This Christmas is a very exciting one for me, since this is mine and Zack's first Christmas together.  This means that I finally have a home to decorate!  I have been having a great time buying and putting together these decorations to make our little house feel like home.  Here are some pictures of our house! 

Display table

I got the large apothecary jar on Black Friday from a store called Real Deals (I highly recommend this place for cheap, cute decorating).  I made the Noel, Days to Christmas countdown and the star.  The Nativity was a wedding gift Zack and I got last year.  Now I just need to embroider our names on the stockings and were set!

The Tree

The tree was a HUGE pain!  The stand it came from was very old and a bad design.  We tried setting it up a million times and would wake up in the morning with it fallen over on the ground.  Finally I broke down and bought a new stand.   It was $30 but worth every penny.  I gotta say, I LOVE our tree!

 

The Wreath

Yesterday I was at Smith's with my Mom buying some candy for my display and Mom thought this wreath was cute and at a good price ($22.99) so she bought it.  When she was checking out it rang up at $11.50!!  I have been looking for cute wreath everywhere but haven't found one that I liked that was cheap too!  So, I had to buy this little steal of a deal! 

Girls Weekend

This weekend the girls in my family decided to start a new tradition.  We reserved a room downtown at the Little America hotel.  We met up around 5pm on Friday and got settled in.  We took trax over to the Gateway Mall where we went shopping (of course!) and had dinner at Rumbi Grill.  We had a good time looking through all the shops and gathering ideas for Christmas gifts.  When we got back to the hotel, we headed over to the pool.  The hot tub there is HUGE so we had a nice time relaxing.  

The next morning we all got ready and headed to Little America's Saturday Brunch.  It was delicious!  They had all the breakfast foods you could want plus more!  We had a great time visiting and eating.  If any of you have the chance to go there for breakfast, you should.  My sister Nicole also surprised us with a little Christmas home made gift and I was nominated to do it next year.  Thanks Nicole!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, Zack and I were with my family.  We were celebrating with the Galbraith side and all got together at my Uncle Jim and Aunt Dixie's home in beautiful Midway!  They have lived there for 2 years now and it was fun to get together with many cousins I haven't seen in a long time.  We had a lot of fun visiting and eating and stuffing ourselves silly!

This year I actually contributed to the feast!   My Mom asked what I wanted to bring to dinner and I remember that I canned a bunch of peach pie filling a few months ago, so it was the perfect occasion to use it!  It turned out delicious if I do say so myself!  The only picture I took on Thanksgiving is of me and the pie to show off my mad skills, so here it is:

During the break, I went shopping for Black Friday.  I had never before gotten up and been at the store opening on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  This year was different.  The gift I wanted was SUPER on sale and I didn't know if I would get one if I went in later.  So, I braved the crowds and went.  The place I was going opened at 6am so it wasn't too bad.  I woke up at 5:45, put clothes on, grabbed car keys, and off I went!  I got to the store right in time, grabbed the goods and was out of there by 6:16am.  I was pretty proud!  Since it is my present from my Mom and Dad I decided since I know what is is, somebody should be surprised- so I haven't and will not tell anyone what it is till Christmas!  I'm pretty excited for it :)

Another thing my family loves to do during breaks is go to see movies.  This year we chose to go and see The Blind Side.  All I can say is that you have to go see it!   I LOVED it so so much.  It was one of those good feeling, happy family, movies!  I highly recommend it! 

Belated

Zack's favorite restaurant is Chili's.  Naturally, we tried to go there for dinner to celebrate his birthday.  When we got there on his birthday it was an 1:45 min. wait!!!  We said heck no and found other plans. So, last night we tried again hoping the wait would be a LOT less.  We were right!  We invited Shauna and Roger to come with us and we had a great time!  Thanks for coming you two!  Here are some photos from the evening!

The waitress informed Zack that he has one fun year left.  She says 25 is a downer.  Better party it up this year!

Two Goofs!  (Well, one goof and Shauna)

This is what the boys did to entertain themselves while we waited for our food!

Nice work!

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Family Resemblance?

I found this little beauty in Beijing.  I cannot believe I had to travel all the way to China to find this!!  I thought my family and cousins who read would also get a kick out of it!   Enjoy!