Blast From The Past!

Okay so since my blog has been so boring lately and since today would be another boring day...I decided to pull out a little something from my birthday this last year! Here's the back story...Leslie & Isaac were going to tell me they were pregnant for my birthday gift but the secret was already out so on the drive up here Isaac decided that wasn't enough so he wrote me this song! He seriously wrote it on the way up here! I LOVE IT!!!! IT IS FANTASTIC!!! There are ALOT of inside jokes so if you don't know me too well then it probably won't be as good...but it was PERFECT!!!!



Isn't Isaac awesome! I've never had a song written for me before!

Lazy Day

Today was spent watching movies and putting songs onto my ipod. Seriously, that is all I did! And now that I just finished a game of scrabble with Emily (she won again...by more than a hundred points) I am totally exhausted and going to bed!

Good night all!

Another Fantastic Day!

Okay...real quick cause I am tired!!!! Today was another great and fantastic day! And here is why!

1. Sleeping in - somewhat
2. Hot cinnamon rolls for breakfast!
3. Morning nap
4. Waking up to fresh bread baking in my new bread machine!
5. Some more being lazy
6. Shopping with my best friend
7. Playing on itunes and my new ipod
8. Going to see the Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Emily, Jenn, & Amy (Triple Loved It)
9. Having Emily crash here again

All in all - a pretty dang fantastic day! Oh yeah, add in there that it is only friday, I didn't have to work today, and I get to sleep in again tomorrow! Could a person ask for anything else!?!?!?! I don't think so!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas!! I know I did!!! Seriously! It was a fantastic day!! We woke up at the butt crack of dawn (7:00) and began opening presents! It was pretty laid back with just me, Becky, & our parents! I got some pretty awesome stuff! Actually everything I got was fantastic but a few of my favorites were an ipod nano (I've never had an ipod before...I've always been a cd kinda girl), my bread machine (I already made a loaf of onion bread and it was delicious!), The Office Trivia game (so fun!), clothes, dvds, a new watch (cute green m&m), and new blankets for my bed (my old ones have worn through and are leaving purple fuzzies EVERYWHERE!), and a wii fit (haven't had time to play it yet though)

I spent most of my day just being lazy and trying to figure out my new ipod! I did actually have to get up and shower and get ready for the day so that I could go to the detention center! I seriously seriously love my calling! We went in yesterday for an hour and did more of the 'worldly' side of Christmas. We had Santa come and we sang fun Christmas songs and gave each of the kids a fleece blanket. Then today we went in and did more of the 'true meaning' side of Christmas. We read about the birth of the Savior from the bible and sang more of the spiritual Christmas songs. I love to see those kids! I can't imagine being somewhere like that on Christmas. It was hard enough being away from my family and friends while I was on my mission, but atleast I knew I was where I was supposed to be and doing what I was supposed to be doing! So I am just so glad to get to go in there and hopefully be able to show them that no matter where they are...they are still loved! It's an awesome awesome calling I hold!

Every year on Christmas we go over to my aunts house for breakfast and then they come to our house for dinner! She makes a FANTASTIC breakfast for us every year. We always have a ham, hashbrowns, toast, eggs (for people who like them...I would not be one of those), and this year she even added in waffles! For dinner we always have a turkey with all the fixin's! I love stuffing and have been known on multiple occasions to have it alone for dinner, so imagine my excitement when stuffing is actually part of the meal! LOVE IT! I usually just have myself a plateful of turkey and stuffing...nothing else is really needed in my opinion! It was a fantastic food day! And Emily came up for dinner too!

As for the snow...it snowed quite a bit this morning but didn't last very long but then it has kinda snowed off and on all day...until tonight at around 7ish or so....and it just started coming down and has been coming down pretty good since! It dropped alot of snow...enough so that Emily just decided to crash here rather than risk her life driving home in the storm! But the biggest highlight of the snow was when Becky & Michael decided they wanted to try out our new snow ball throwers...well of course Michael didn't plan on playing in the snow and was just wearing a shirt and sweat pants...so as Becky is putting on her new snow pants and Michael was trying to be the tough guy and say he'd be fine without any...I offered him my pink bibs...and he took me up on the offer! So not only were they pink...but he is much taller than me...so they are floods!!!!! Can I just tell you that we were all hysterically laughing! It was one of the funniest things I have seen in my life!

And once you are wearing your cousins pink bibs...you might as well wear your aunts baby blue moon boots...
Seriously check out how high of floods those pants are on him!

Doesn't he look good?!?!?


And here is Becky dressed to play in the snow...in gender appropriate clothing!


I asked Michael if he wanted to wear my big purple snow coat but he said 'No...I need to keep some of my manhood'!

We also played an awesome game of Scattergories! Emily and I were a team and she is fantastic at that game! I think there was only one round we didn't win and we totally killed everyone overall! So glad to have her on my team...I can't think well enough under pressure! And let me just say...lots and lots of laughing at everyone's answers! Then we played a few games on the wii! Fun times!

Now Emily and I really should be going to bed but instead have been playing an online game of scrabble...its hard BTW! Currently...she's leading the game by just under 30 points...I wonder who will win! To be continued...

Update: (about 10 minutes later) Emily is winning by just over 50!

Update: (about 30 minutes later than that) And the winner is....Emily....by 68 points!! Good game!

Only One More Sleep 'Til Christmas

I had a whole blogged planned out about all the awesome things we did today and all the traditions we celebrate! I took lots of pictures and had so much already written in my head. But now I'm just tired and don't want to spend the time! Is that horrible? It kinda is, isn't it? But me and my family are watching Scrooged and I just wanna turn off the computer and probably fall asleep (I ALWAYS fall asleep during movies!) So I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Eve and just remember...there's only one more sleep til Christmas!!! YAY!!!!

I LOVED Today!

Today was a great day! You know the kind of day where you wake up in a good mood and know that no matter what happens its going to be a great day? Well it was one of those days! FANTASTIC! Here is why (listed in chronological order)

1. Lots and Lots of Snow!

2. I got my nails done at lunch! I tried to take a picture to post on here but it just looked weird. I got kinda a light wintery green with glitter! I'm going for the winter look! And I love it!

3. Dinner with friends I love! My friend Jeri (aka Tom) is in town from Alaska for the holiday and she called yesterday and wanted to do dinner tonight. I was also able to get ahold of Star so she came too! It was such a fun time! We had to keep it kinda short since I had to be at the playhouse but it was still so fun! We laughed about old memories and got caught up on each others lives! It was fantastic! You know the kind of friends that you don't see or talk to for months but then when you get together it is just like old times. Well that is us!

Me, Star, Tom

4. Fun times running the box office at the playhouse! I really do love running the box office with Lisa! And there are so many people that I love that I get to see while I am there.

5. Having a girls night with Emily! We've both been so busy lately that it seems like its been forever since we got together to just hang out. And I've really missed that. So Emily (& Cydney - her cute niece) was able to come up for a few hours tonight and we watched The Holiday! I really do love that movie! And the company was fantastic! What a great way to end a wonderful day!

I think that was the all major points that made today such a great day! I LOVED Today!

Oops!

So I woke up this morning and realized that I had not updated yesterday! What is wrong with me? No idea actually!!! So I am gonna tell about my not very exciting day yesterday right now and that will have to count as best as it can for yesterdays blog!

Woke up, went to work, started snowing once I got to work (!!!), snowed ALL DAY!!!, went to dinner with Leah (so fun!), helped Lisa run the box office at the playhouse, actually got to see Leah be Isabelle (excellent job), went home (slowly, the roads were very slick), talked to Emily online for a while (love her!), worked on the Blithe Spirit program, went to bed!

As you can see I had a very non-exciting day but was online for a long time last night and totally could have posted a blog but for whatever reason I didn't even think about it! Oh well!

P.S. It's snowing AGAIN!!!!! Great day!

Just A Few Things...

Today was Jenn's Speak In Sacrament Meeting Day (formerly known as a Homecoming) and she did a fabulous job!

Baby Addie was so cute today! I got to hold her through sacrament and then quite a bit when we were back at Jenn's, she is so dang fun! Here she is in her cute as can be purple outfit! (I got it for her!!) Check out the socks!!!!


Jenn really likes Baby Addie too!!!!

Here they are checking out the tree together!

And here is a much better picture of Elizabeth with the cross-stitch my dad made them for Christmas! The important thing to note is that my dad HATES to cross-stitch words...and this one has ALOT of words!! He must really like them!


That's about all I've got today! The rest of my day has been spent sleeping and watching TV. So nothing exciting!

It must be in the Genes

Okay let me start with the most important thing that happened today! Those of you who know anything about me...know that I LOVE REBA!!! I love love love Reba. Some would say obsessed...some say stalker...some just mock me at every possible turn...and some just think, 'oh it's tara'. Well my cousin Brandon loves Star Wars. I kinda always knew that but it wasn't until I was at his house today that I found out his obsession with Star Wars equals and possibly even surpasses my obsession with Reba. I know...you're wondering if that's even possible! It is...I'm so not kidding! In his house, he has a Star Wars room. A freakin' Star Wars room...I have only dreamed about having a Reba room!

Here are a couple pictures I took of his collection!


When I asked him why some were opened and why some where still in the package. He said because the ones he has opened, he also has another one that is unopened. To which I replied very sarcastically "I have no idea waht you mean...I DO NOT have two copies of all of Reba's cd's so that I can open one and leave one in the plastic"! I seriously could not love his room more!


Yes, he even has a Star Wars Christmas Tree!


I also got to hold my cousin Tiffany's cute cute baby again! He is such a good baby! Just lays there and smiles and grins the whole time!

Owen

Look at his cute dimple! This is the only picture I got of him smiling! All the other pictures he had kinda a panic look! He would smile up until the flash went off then he would just stare!

This was the cross-stich my dad made for Kim & Elizabeth

Paul & Vicki! - Paul, you are now on my blog!!!!

Vicki brought a fun game called the Reindeer game! We played boys against girls...I think the boys won, but only because they got done first...both the boys and girls reindeers looked great! They had to put a pair of pantyhose on and the legs become the antlers...see pictures below! So fun! I was in charge of picture taking!

My dad was the boy reindeer

The boys hard at work

Natalie was the girl reindeer

The girls hard at work

The finished reindeers! Don't they look great!

For dessert we had Rootbeer floats! The boys were all sitting eating theirs and enjoying them...then Aidan says "this is just so daleesious...eva" That word is delicious but I tried to type it in his cute little kid accent! It was so cute!

Cody, Tayson, & Aidan

So as you can see we had a pretty good Skinner Family Christmas Party! It was lots of fun!

My Favorite Part About Blogging!

I have decided that my favorite part about blogging is that I can talk (well write) about things that you couldn't care less about in a normal conversation! But just because I am updating my blog, you guys all read it and hopefully even kinda enjoy it! Plus, I am sure my friends are thanking you so very much because now they don't have to listen to as many of my stories as they used to! I can write about anything and you guys are stuck listening (well reading) to my rambling!!! I LOVE BLOGGING!!!!

We got out of work a few minutes early today and so I headed home! And while it looked like this outside...



I decided to make some fudge! I LOVE LOVE LOVE fudge! The first time I remember eating this kind was as a kid at my friend Dori's house! (Come to think of it...lots of my first food memories are from Dori's) It is the kind that is made with the Marshmellow Creme! And it is fantastic. There is actually a recipe on the back of the jar but it only has the recipe for the making it on the stove and I have always made it in the microwave! So that is the way I do it!

*Lightly grease 8x8 or 9x9 pan.
*Microwave 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) margarine in 4 quart microwave bowl on High 1 minute
*Add 3 cups sugar & 1 can (5 oz) evaporated milk. Mix well

*Microwave on High 5 minutes, stirring after 3 minutes. Mix well. Scrape bowl
*Microwave on High 5 1/2 minutes, stirring after 3 minutes.
*Gradually stir in 1 pkg (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips until melted.

(I have never actually made the fudge myself before, I've always had someone else to pour the ingredients in while I stirred, so this was a new experience for me!)

*Add remaining ingredients. 1 jar (7 oz) marshmellow creme. 1 tsp vanilla. 1 cup chopped nuts. (nuts optional...and I choose to not choose them!!) Mix well.

(I love when you first open the marshmellow creme and it kinda creeps out of the jar!)

*Pour into prepared pan. Cool at room temperature. Cut into squares. Eat

I always leave some in the bowl to eat! I am not a good scraper!



And here is the finished project...


So that is what I did while it has been cold & snowy outside!

Now Jenn & Amy are here and we are going to watch Ironman then we are going to have a How I Met Your Mother marathon once Jeff & Megan get here!! Gonna be a great night!

IT'S SNOWING!!!!

That's all! I just wanted everyone to know how excited I am that I just looked out my window here at work and saw that the snow has started!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the snow! I hope it snows all day and just keeps on going! We may actually get to have a white Christmas!

And I got new tires on my car yesterday so I don't even have to be worried about driving in it!!

YAY FOR SNOW!!!!

What I've Done Tonight...

Made 4 scarves and watched a disc and a half of Pushing Daisies Season 1!

First: Pushing Daisies is awesome! I've had so many people tell me that I should watch it and so when I found season 1 for 18.99 I bought it! And I finally had the chance to start watching it (and I've heard that they cancelled it so I am NOT happy about that). There are so many good things to love about it! I really like the way that it is set up, with the narrator and the details (he was 29 years, 3 months, 2 days, & 4 minutes old). I LOVE Kristin Chenoweth and how she randomly breaks into song. I just really like this show! I have been DVR-ing Season 2 so I can start on that as soon as Season 1 is over! Fantastic!

Second: Making the scarves...
First I cut them into 8 inch wide strips and pin two together...


Then pin 6 inches in from the end (for the tassels) and then 7 inches in from that (for the pocket)...



Then sew along the edges...


Don't forget to leave an opening for the pocket...


Then cut the tassels...



The finished tassels...


Here is a finished scarf....


And all 4 are finally done!


I think they turned out pretty good! And I am totally impressed with myself for getting them done tonight from start to finish! Pretty productive night!! :)

Tagged Again!!!

Lesley tagged me for my favorite movies! I tag anyone who wants to play but specifically Lana, Kelli, Diana, Audrey, Mandy Sue, & Stephanie Love (and if you guys don't want to then just pretend you didn't see your name here!)

For those of you who know anything about me at all...you know I LOVE movies! And I am frequently saying 'oh that's my favorite movie!' so this is super fun for me!!!! Warning: some may have more than one movie listed...sometimes it's just too hard to pick! (turns out almost all of them have more than one) And just for the record...I've had a hard time resisting the urge to type up my favorite lines from each movie as I've been posting them!

Here it goes...

A-American President
B-Back To The Future (all 3), Benny & Joon, Big, Bourne movies, Billy Madison (best Adam Sandler Movie Ever!)
C-Clue, Can't Buy Me Love, Chipmunks Adventure
D-Dear God, Dirty Dancing, Dumb & Dumber
E-E.T.
F-Ferris Bueller's Day Off, First Wives Club, Forever Love, Fried Green Tomatoes
G-Ghostbusters (both but first is better), Goonies
H-Hairspray, Happy Gilmore, Heavyweights
I-In & Out, I Am Legend
J-Juno
K-Kindergarten Cop
L-League Of Their Own, Liar Liar, Lilo & Stitch
M-Mary Poppins, Mean Girls, Music & Lyrics
N-Napoleon Dynamite, Notting Hill, Now & Then
O-One & Only Genuine Original Family Band, Orange County, Overboard
P-Pete's Dragon, Practical Magic, Private Eyes
Q- (can't think of any...sorry)
R-Return To Me, Rocketman,
S-Steel Magnolias (Seriously my number one favorite movie of all time!!!!), Savannah Smiles & Somewhere in Time (they are tied for my number 2 spot...its just coincidence that they all start with the same letter), Simon Birch, Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants, Son-in-Law, Superstar, Sweet Dreams
T-Three Amigos, Teen Witch, Tommy Boy, Tremors
U-Uncle Buck
V-View From The Top
W-What About Bob?, What Happens In Vegas, Where The Heart Is, Wizard Of Oz
X- (again...can't think of any...sorry)
Y-Young Frankenstein, You've Got Mail
Z-Zoolander

That was fun! I LOVE movies!!

Laughing!

I LOVE to just sit around with friends and talk and laugh! Nothing else going on but just sitting around and enjoying each others company!! Jenn's mom threw her a kinda welcome home party tonight. And after most of the people left we just sat on the couch and had a good time. We mostly talked about funny old stories and quoted 'How I Met Your Mother' (Seriously funny show...we think Jenn needs to fall in love with it like we are! Even Lisa & Jared want to see it now that we quoted it and hysterically laughed all night!!!!) At some points we were laughing so hard we were crying! It was a fabulous night!

Below are some random pictures taken throughout the night, most of them taken by Kenzie (she's 5)! She actually took a ton but I just picked some of the best ones to represent the night!

Me & Jenn

Me & Baby Addie - she was actually awake and smiling long enough for me to hold her! Well when Jenn wasn't being a baby hog!

Kenzie wanted a picture of her lying on the floor!

Me & My Friend Brenda! I seriously LOVE her!

I guess Kelsey didn't want to sit close to us!

Kelsey being Hiro Nakamura! I seriously can't stop laughing at this picture!

Addie - Look how cute her little lip is!!! So cute!

Kenzie has amazing balancing skills! And Justin was willing to entertain her for hours!

Megan, Jenn, Amy, Me, Kenzie, Lana, Craig, & Taylor

Jenn, Megan, Me, & Amy

It was such a fantastic night! I LOVE my friends!