Doppelganger (kind of)

I decided that I didn't look like any of the celebs Heritage matched me with (two were Asian, the others included Barack Obama), so I went with Stacy from Lords of Dogtown. I was told by many that I look like him--that is, in the summer when I'm tan, my roots have grown out, and I'm wearing no makeup. Wait, "Him"? Hm...

However, it worked for Ben. First match. Perfect.

Some say we have addictions. When we were engaged, we were addicted to the gym. In the months after we got married, we were addicted to playing Cranium. After winter break, I was addicted to crocheting while Ben was addicted to ESPN. NOW, we are addicted to 24. This may be our biggest addiction EVER. I mean, we are waking up in the morning and talking about our Jack Bauer dreams. We find ourselves asking, "What if the syntox nerve gas got into the Marriott Center right now while the basketball game is going on. What would we do?" In class I am constantly making connections to episodes and worst of all, someone said jugular today and I couldn't help but turn to the girl next to me and say "Jack Bauer". She had no idea what I was talking about. If it wasn't for Matt and Emily, we would skip school and work and watch 24 for literally 24 hours a day. Because of them them, we have learned to control ourselves and only watch one season a week (it seriously kills us). We started on season 5 and we have 3 to go. The next few weeks are looking VERY nice!

There's nothing like sleeping in until 10:30 on Saturday morning and then walking outside onto our balcony to see this. The night before, it snowed chunks nonstop. I'm not kidding, the chunks were bigger than quarters. It's no wonder there were over 4,000 people at the BYU boy's v-ball game. I'm pretty sure it was the most I've ever seen at a v-ball game. We later went to the "Office" with Matt, Emily, and Campbell family to have a 24 marathon and load up on chocolate. The house is on the golf course and because all the green was covered in bright white snow you could see for hundreds of feet. It was beautiful! If only I could capture it with a camera, but a picture just does not do justice.

Break was too good to be true. Then, reality hit and it was back to work and 8am classes. The first few days consisted of class and work schedules, laundry, grocery shopping, and a very large payment on textbooks. After a few days of classes I realized that I had some spare time and didn't want to fill it with anything school related (terrible I know). Therefore, I shunned school and decided to start crocheting again.
A little bit of my crocheting history: I learned to crochet in high school and accomplished my first blanket (which was crazy cool and ginormous). I soon decided to start crocheting scarves and then learned to crochet beanies. Being the little entrepreneur I am along with my friend Nicole Clements, we decided to make beanies and sell them. Want to know why we make such a great team? Well, let's just say we have a history of making bank selling licorice, stickers, putting on car washes, and having lemonade stands. Not to mention teaching dance and painting nails. Within months, we had a little business going and I was personally making more profit selling beanies than I was making at my regular Z-Pizza job. It was amazing. So it's been a few years, but I have decided that while Ben is at school and work I will crochet my heart away because it is something I enjoy and possibly a way I can help pay the bills. Check out my website if you are in need of a cute beanie, headband, or ear warmer! :)

Continuing on with the recent events in our lives: Over the weekend, we laughed through Where the Wild Things Are (we absolutely loved it), played games with the newlyweds Natalie and Jeff and the soon-to-be newlyweds Matt and Emily, and watched more movies and relaxed.

During the second week of winter semester, I pretty much just went to class and crocheted. Ben went to class and worked. He called me a Grandma, and I just told him that one day I'm going to make millions and he'll never have to work again (right). I caught up with Sara Murri and ate some delicious pasta with creamy pesto sauce. Ben worked a whole over the weekend, and I did a whole lot of nothing except scare myself by thinking someone was going to break into the house and shoot me (I have a weird imagination, and some anxiety). We watched the BYU men's basketball team beat Colorado and the BYU men's volleyball team beat Pacific. I cooked our favorite chow mein & fried rice and mama Butler's famous chocolate chip cookies for Sunday dinner. But what made the weekend an unforgettable one was celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday in Park City on the slopes, in nice conditions, and with some delicious Davansa's pizza to top the day off. Oh do we love holidays.

Christmas Break

Week 1:
Every minute of the 9-hour drive was worth the beautiful California weather. Beach breeze, sunny days, some rain, a night with wind, and occasional clouds were enough to make us stay and never return to the snow. We arrived to a never-ending flow of food and our wonderful families. Gained the holiday 5 in the first 15 minutes as we (or maybe it was just me) ate chocolate, candy cane mints, and Mama Butler's homemade sugar cookies. Introduced Cranium to Mama Butler, John, Caitlyn, and Jake--who of course absolutely loved it. Discovered CAFE RIO 15 minutes away, yes, in California (no longer a reason to live in Utah), played Mario Kart way too much, last minute Christmas Shopping, and saw the best Christmas Lights on Sunflower and Ranger Street at Gramma and Papa Butler's house--a Christmas tradition.

Christmas 2009
Our first Christmas as hubby and wife
The smell of real Christmas trees, Christmas Eve movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Squeakual!--a Butler tradition, Mama Butler's for Mexican appetizers, Chamberlin's for dinner and family gift exchange, and back to Mama Butler's for slumber party, Christmas PJ's--both a Butler and Chamberlin tradition. Mama Butler's delicious Christmas morning blueberry baked french toast, gifts, stockings, Catholic Mass, Papa Butler's house for delicious dinner with family, BIKES!, and the Chamberlin white elephant gift exchange/steal.

Christmas Morning

Our new bikes!

Week 2:

Sherlock Homes, spa, pedis and manis, an introduction to an addicting game called Dr. Mario, hours and hours of playing and watching Dr. Mario, beach volleyball, Jeff and Natalie Eynon's reception, CPK and Cafe Rio, early morning surfing, horseback riding, in-N-out, New Years Eve celebration!, New Years Day football, Laguna Beach, BBQ, and a long drive back to Utah with a 48 degree apartment to greet us...

Jeff and Natalie's Reception

"Horsin' Around"

Bringing in the new year!