My Holiday Season

Time flies around the holidays, and before you know it, it's time to make new goals for a brand new year.  Since I am behind, I've decided to tackle that over the next week, and take this time to catch up on the past two.  Below are the highlights of my holiday season.  

CHRISTMAS EVE:

Christmas Eve I swear is better than Christmas itself.  I've always loved the anticipation and the excitement.  You can't help but be happy.  After a short work day, I met up with Ami and Brandon to visit my Grandma and Dad at my Grandma's house.  Even though we are all grown up, nothing spells comfort like being at Grandma's.  Back in the day, the whole family gathered for Christmas Eve, Santa would come, my dad and uncles, and eventually Tony would play Bugler's Holiday on their trumpets, and my aunts would play Sleigh Ride on the piano.  What great memories...

Later on Christmas Eve, my good friend Diane invited me out to her parents' house to spend some time with her family on Christmas Eve.  It was so cute watching her kids and nieces and nephews open gifts and put on a nativity program.  It's crazy how fast our lives change, and I'm so grateful for friends like her.  Love ya Di... 

CHRISTMAS DAY:

Christmas was pretty low key for me.  I slept in until 10:30 or so, made myself some rice noodles and headed to my grandma's house.  One of my favorite things about Christmas is surprising my two cousins/little brothers/nephews/sometimes even sons, Riley and Jaycson with a fun gift.  I have a hunch they are pretty excited to receive my gift as well, because when I got to Grandma's they had them on their laps, ready to rip open (I had left them in her garage, and they were found).  This year I got them both a long sleeved soccer jersey.  I can't believe how they tower over me now...

Jaycson, Me, Riley

Kimmie, Bryce, Quincy, and Mia spent their Christmas in California with Teresa, Mitch, Fallon, and Easton.  Hopefully next year we can all spend it together.  Since Ami and Brandon got snowed in Christmas night at Brandon's parents' house, we all met the next evening for a "pot-sticker" night at Tony & Melissa's.  The food was delicious and we all ate way too much, but the best part of the night was Teresa and I setting up ichat on our macs.  It was very exciting to us computer nerds, and the kids got a kick out of seeing and talking to each other,  and sharing about all their Christmas treasures.  It's nice to feel so connected to family during the holidays.  I love technology!

SNOW DAYS:

The day after Christmas, Tony brought Emily Ty, AJ, and Kimball over to go sledding on the hill just up the street from my house.  We have since dubbed the hill "Riley's Ridge", since he separated his shoulder snowboarding down it earlier in the week.  We had a great time sledding.  Kimball at one point laid down in the sled and went down the hill like it was the luge.  He said he wanted to go "fast like a bullet", and that he wanted to "lay down in the sled like a bed".  That kid is hilarious.  Who knows... maybe he'll be in the Winter Olympics a few years down the road.

The following Monday after Christmas, Brenna, a player I used to coach, came back to Utah for a visit , and we went snowshoeing up Logan Canyon.  I brought my 7 year old nephew, AJ along for the adventure, and he did AWESOME.  We hiked up a steep mountain, and he kept right up.  At the top of the mountain, we came across a small cliff we could jump off of, and AJ, the little daredevil was attempting to do 360's off it.  It was such a blast!  On the way down, we went straight down, as opposed to the switchbacks we had to do going up, and AJ just flew down the mountain.  At one point, I did get a little nervous and afraid that someone would try and kidnap him while he was waiting for us at the bottom, so I hurried down quick.  Of course, he said going down was his favorite part of the whole day.

Brenna, Me, AJ

BABY NO NAME:

December 3oth, Teresa went into labor and sometime between 10:00 and 11:00 pm, a 6 lb 11 oz, 19 inch baby boy was extracted from her big bell-ay.  It then took 5 days to finally come up with a name for him.  Our family welcomes the 10th grandkid... Hudson Joseph Chaisson.

NEW YEAR'S EVE:

Poor Riley went in for surgery on his left shoulder.  Not a good start for the new year.  At least he got a pair of "paper shorts" out of the whole deal.  The surgery went well, and we hope his recovery will be speedy.  High School soccer season is right around the corner.

I spent the evening with Scuba Steve and the Scuba Squad.  Scuba Steve made delicious shrimp (breaded & coconut), I made a London Broil, and Cindy made my favorite... augratin potatoes for a great New Year's Eve dinner.  Mmm mmm good!

Surgery definitely didn't slow Riley down as he lit off a bunch of fireworks at midnight.  It was amazing how the neighborhood erupted in fireworks.  Apparently we weren't the only one with the "frowned upon" contraband.

GAMES:

New Year's Eve, and throughout the rest of the weekend, we watched plenty of "House", while getting our game playing in.  Nertz was definitely the fave.

Happy New Year everyone!!!  Even though I hate getting back to reality, I DO look forward to re-organizing, and getting back on a schedule.  It's definitely time to make some new goals and plan for the upcoming year.  Wish me luck!!!

My Surprise

Fallon, Teresa, Ami, and Me

California was absolutely fabulous!  This is my Top 10 list from my latest visit.

10- THE BIG SURPRISE: Although this is one of the top things, it was over fast, and I thought it would be a good beginning.  For a whole month and a half, Ami, Brandon, Mitch, and I had to keep this big secret.  I flew out and surprised Teresa the night before her Birthday.  I even had my work lie to Teresa and tell her I went home sick, as I knew she would call me that day, and sure enough... (good thing for caller ID). Unfortunately, this kind of planning takes a lot of patience and waiting.  The last two weeks were almost killing me and I almost slipped a couple of times.  On the final day, I had to wait a couple of hours for Ami to pick me up from the airport as she had to work.  As we got to Teresa's house, we tricked her into getting Ami some "lounge clothes" as I snuck in the back door.  As she came back into the kitchen, I was sitting next to Mitch on the couch, and she had a look of confusion on her face, and finally said... "Heeeeeyyy!".  If I only had time to set up the video camera...  It was a great surprise!

9- SLEEPING IN:  I love vacations because I get to catch up on sleep.  Even though I would automatically wake up early, I made myself go back to bed for a couple more hours.  It felt great!

8- FESTIVAL OF THE LIGHTS: LA's version of Temple Square.  It's a drive through line of lights designed after top sight-seeing sites in California.  Easton had a blast, but mostly because he got to sit on Mitch's lap and drive the truck. 

7- MOVIE NIGHT: Since I never got the chance to watch The Dark Knight on the big screen, I had to settle for the next best thing... Teresa's big screen.  

6- SHOPPING: We got a lot of shopping in.  The funniest moment was when we went to Target.  Teresa had taken her purchased items and started heading to the doors.  While the lady was ringing up my items, she totally ignored me and stared at Teresa walking away the ENTIRE time, barely breaking her gaze to take my money.  As she was finally giving me my change back, she said to me... "She is walking VERY slow.  She's VERY pregnant!"  I wonder if she knew we were together, but it was pretty funny.  

5- GOOD FOOD/BAD FOOD: One thing we love to do, is eat!  First I'll name the Bad Restaurants... Ca Del Sole, where we had Teresa's Birthday dinner (it must have been an off night), and Bistro 45 where I ordered a chicken Caesar Salad, but little did I know it would be authentic and made with anchovies.  As soon as Teresa mentioned anchovies, I was done.  Best Restaurants were New Moon (Chinese), Pho 97, our usual Indian Restaurant, and of course In-N-Out where Easton discovered fry sauce.

4- FAMILY LAUGHTER: One thing we all like to do is make each other laugh.  We constantly joke, making fun of our family quirks, unusual childhood, crazy Utah living, and "Mitch-isms".  We had plenty of laughter throughout the visit.  I have the greatest family!!!

3- "PEEKING IN THE OVEN": Teresa went in for a 4D ultrasound session to get the baby's first pics.  We think he's going to look a bit like Easton, and it looks like he'll have a cute little dimple on his left cheek.  Can't wait to put a name on that face!

2- WILDCAT SOCCER: Getting to watch Fallon play on her High School Soccer Team.  I was able to catch 2 games, and she played awesome!

   Fallon heading the ball

Me and Fallon at her school.  

Notice Magic Mountain in the background!

1- EASTON "BYTES": Listening to Easton talk.  He is so into food, his cousins, and learning how to wink.  He has the cutest little voice, and always made us laugh with his "words".

What a great trip.  It sucked coming back to freezing temperatures and snow, but hey... Christmas is right around the corner!

My Office Prank

So on occasion, there will be a Saturday where we have a lot of post-ops and I will have to go in to work.  Last Saturday happened to be one of those days.  The friday before, we got a shipment from office depot, and after unloading the contents, I couldn't help but think... "I can TOTALLY fit in that box!"  After proving myself right, I was dying to prank someone, and I decided I'd get my boss the next morning by hiding in the box and jumping out at just the right moment and scaring him.  A lot of planning was involved here... where to set up the camera, are the patients going to interfere, WHEN do I jump out, etc.  Turns out I had 4 excellent chances, but because I was basically blind in the box, I missed them.  At one point, I was terrified boss-man would see the camera since it was basically in plain sight.  Good thing he's a man.  Jeremy, my co-worker and I came up with a new scheme to lure him back up front, and came up with a code word for when I could attack.  All in all, we had a good laugh.  Enjoy the clip!!!

You Learn

I chose to be tagged by my friend Kami.  This is a pretty fun game.

Here's the game:

1. Put your ipod or any MP3/music player of your choice on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the game from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?

L.A. Song - Beth Hart

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

No Rain - Blind Melon

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of - U2

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

Basket Case - Green Day (Hmmmm..... Really???!!!)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

I'm Alright - Jo Dee Messina

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

Mr. Brightside - The Killers

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

You'll See - Madonna (Oooh... very Sly)

WHAT IS 2 + 2?

Changes - 3 Doors Down

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND(S)?

Sunday - The Cranberries

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters (Hmmmmm.....)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

The One - Backstreet Boys (Ha ha ha ha... YES!!!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Winter Games Theme - David Foster

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Ticket To Ride - The Carpenters (They HAVE always tried to get rid of me!)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

From This Moment On - Shania Twain (Now that is just so cheezy!)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

Simone - Donna Lewis

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

Soak Up The Sun - Sheryl Crow (Nailed It!!!)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Best Days - Matt White

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

What I Am - Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice (It's true... I HATE being cold!)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?

The Greatest - Kenny Rogers (Playing baseball... good to know. At least I go out on top!)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?

Put Me Down - The Cranberries

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

Steal Away - Driving By Starlight

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?

Love Remains The Same - Gavin Rossdale

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?

Do You Know? - Enrique Iglesias (Seriously... Do you?)

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?

Skin - Rascal Flatts

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?

36d - The Beautiful South (Now that makes no sense... That's a bra size!)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

Here I Am - Bryan Adams (Apparently nothing...)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?

I'm Outta Here - Shania Twain (Hmmm... Is this a sign?)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

You Learn - Alanis Morissette (Oooh, nice!)

I agree with Kami that music does say a lot about you.  I also tag anyone who wants to play.  It's pretty intense!  

My Soccer Saturday

Saturday was quite the day with 2 big games on my schedule.

Game 1: BYU vs USC

I got the opportunity to be the senior assistant referee (AR1) on the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament at BYU.  Defending champs USC, along with their National Team player, Amy Rodriguez took it to BYU the first half, as BYU looked and played a little scared, and were down 1-0 at the half.  USC scored from an amazing diving header on my end of the field.  Second half BYU was a completely different team, and took it to USC.  Their tying goal came down to my call from the line, whether or not the ball crossed the goal line or not, and good thing I was in perfect position right on the end line.  It was such and exciting game!  I even got "booed" late in the second half by 1,691 fans for calling a BYU player offside.  It was quite the experience, not to mention funny... AND a good call by me, ha ha.  Unfortunately for BYU, they couldn't put one in the net in either overtime period, and ended up losing in a penalty shootout 4-2.  What a great match!

Game 2: Real Salt Lake vs. New York Red Bulls in the Western Conference Finals

After the BYU game, I headed to the RSL game to meet Scuba Steve and his squad.  Despite fighting the traffic and crowds getting into the new Rio Tinto Stadium, the game itself was a lot of fun to watch.  Only in soccer do fans throw streamers at the players and onto the field, and a few times even smoke bombs.  RSL destroyed the Red Bulls on the field, but failed to convert any of their opportunities into a goal, and ended up losing 1-0.  The better team lost.

Me & Riley

My Kid-Filled Weekend

So the past couple of months now I have been trying to start a new thing, and spend some good quality time with my nieces and nephews.  This month, I split up the boys and the girls into different days.  Here's how my weekend went...

Friday: Nephews' night out

I took AJ and Kimball rock climbing at The Rockhaus.  We had a BLAST!  AJ climbed to the top 6 times, after a few "trial runs".  I think he had to get a feel for it and work out some nerves.  Kimball is still working up to going half way up.  He did really awesome for a 4 year-old.  All the while I thought he was a little scared, but according to him when asked why he didn't go up higher, he said "it was too.... FUN!".  Go figure. Ha ha.  Afterward, we went to The Olive Garden and we each picked out a delicious dessert.

AJ, Sly, Kimball

Saturday: Nieces' night out

I took the girls to "Beadles" to bead some jewelry.  All three girls made earrings, and I made a bracelet.  The girls were all so proud of their creations.  Afterwards we went to The Bluebird, where we all picked out a few chocolate treats.   The night was somewhat short-lived as we had to be back to "Grandma Suzie's" for dinner.  Hopefully next time we'll get a full day of fun in!

Mia, Sly, Quincy, Emily Ty

I can't wait to see what's in store for next month.  I think the girls want a repeat, but we'll see if they change their minds.  I am so grateful to have this opportunity, and I hope the kids will always remember these great times and their "fun Aunt Sly".

My Misery

I am definitely suffering from travel burnout.  I have been away the last five weekends, and this trip came with an eventual meltdown.  My day began Friday at 5:15 a.m., traveling to SLC to catch my flight to Spokane.  I then had to rent a car and make the 2 hour drive down to Moscow, ID where I had to ref the University of Idaho vs. San Jose State, in the rain I might add.  I then drove back to Spokane to check into my motel.  Everything was relatively smooth up until this point.  As I took the exit to my motel, it quickly became apparent that something was very, very wrong.  Nothing matched up on my directions.  After another hour or more of trying to find my motel, my frustrations erupted and I had to call Teresa for "moral support".  It turns out that google maps screwed me over, telling me to exit the freeway 4 exits too early.  Teresa stayed on the phone with me until I was safe and sound in the Super 8 parking lot (what a great sister), and I was able to check in and finally get some dinner.  Unfortunately, there was nothing around except for some hillbilly diner, and a Subway inside of a gas station.  I went with speed and convenience and got me a Subway sandwich.  I ate it back in my room and prepared myself for the next morning, as I had to be back at the airport at 5:00 a.m.  It was a pretty rough and exhausting trip, and a sad way to spend Halloween.

so so sad to  be eating a stupid sandwich instead of chicken noodle soup

This morning didn't start off so hot either as everyone annoyed me at the airport (I must be suffering from lack of sleep, and/or jet lag), but it perked up once I got home, and decided to stop by my Grandma's house.  I have to say, I have the best Grandma in the world!  When I stopped, she happened to be making ANOTHER pot of chicken noodle soup, just for me!!!  This totally made my day!  I like to think it was good karma making up for a miserable trip and all the bad things that happened to me over the past week.  After ODP (Olympic Development Program) tryouts, I helped her and other family members rake the leaves in her yard, and then I finally got my bowl of chicken noodle soup, a bowl of chili, and... another bowl of chicken noodle soup.  All in all, I feel much better!

so so happy to get my soup afterall