Christmas and Mr & Mrs Phillips Day

Well folks, the time has come for an update. And unfortunately it's going to have to be a quick one seeing as we're in the process of packing up for a trip to Arizona this weekend. (yay!)

We had a great Holiday this year, and enjoyed spending time both with the fams and just the two of us. Here are some photos from Christmas:

First, there was decorating......

Yummy food....

(My first attempt at Strata - DELISH!)
And Holiday parties....

(Taylor wearing my coat haha)
Time with the fam....

(Look how tall Ethan is getting!!! I can't believe it!)
And of course... Silliness!

(This is the creepiest photo of Matt... ever!)

And lastly, a picture after dinner at The Roof for Anniversary numero dos.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and I wish you all a happy New Year!!

Our Christmas Shenanagins...

Saturday afternoon I got sent home from work a bit early, so I had an actual afternoon off with the hubbs! ..That wasn't a Sunday!! We were so excited to actually be able to hang out. We decided to take up Steve and Sharifa on their offer to join them for a matinee of A Christmas Carol, which was a lot better than the critics said. We loved it! And afterward, it was still pretty early. We sort of just made up our mind to take a spontaneous trip to Temple Square -and Crown Burger of course. It's tradition! And while it may not have been the best night we could have chosen (due to all the craziness from the MoTab concert going on at the same time as the Jazz vs Lakers game), it was still nice to have some time to spend together. Especially in such an important place to us.

Standing where Matt proposed.

Hey Lisa, check this out! Isn't it rad?? I loved this Nativity.

It was nice and toasty... as you can see!

Hooray for Christmas!!! Less than 2 weeks to go now!

Speechless...

So Monday morning, I was awakened to my vibrating phone. My first thought was "Ah great, is it really time to wake up already?". I reached over to turn off my alarm, but it was ringing instead. I thought that was a bit odd. I looked at the caller ID, and it said Private. So my next thought was "Oh, just another telemarketing agency." (Since Matt left the military all our contact info is everywhere and we have tons of schools trying to recruit us all the time. So we never answer numbers we don't recognize.) But I suddenly had a feeling I needed to answer it. Then it was like someone whispered directly into my brain "It's that attorney...." And I had a shiver of excitement but tried not to get too excited so I didn't sound like a total goob on the phone. (This all happened in the span of about 4 seconds, haha) So I answered. "Hello?" "Is this Sierra?" "Yes it is" "Hi, this is (name of the wonderful attorney I interviewed with a week ago), I'm calling to offer you a job." Silence.... "Really?" "Well, yes if you are still interested! haha" "That's great! When can I start?"

One week after we got such bad news from Matt's former employer (still can not speak their name without choking on it), we get this news. I know it's uber corny, but this is my dream job. I start the Paralegal course in January, and here I am starting as a Paralegal already because this guy has some faith in me and my abilities. We have been hoping and praying for an opportunity directed at Matt, but this effects us both and is such a huge blessing. The Lord truly works in mysterious ways.

Thanks to everyone for all your prayers and well wishes. Matt is still working so hard trying to find a new job, and is constantly searching for ways to keep himself busy. I am so proud of him. It has been a rough week, but one of the greatest for us. I'm so happy that Matt is still going at it, and isn't the type to throw in the towel. Love you, dear!

PS- Don't you love how I titled this "Speechless" then rambled on for ten minutes? :)

I'm done!

After this past week, those 2 words could have a plethora (love that word) of different meanings coming from the two of us. If Matt had said them, they could mean "I'm done working for Les Schwab", since he was laid off Monday, or they could mean "I've found as many new jobs to apply for as I can do for now, so I'm done for the day." Coming from me they could mean "I'm done with this old car" since it broke down the same day Matt lost his job, or "I'm done stressing out". It could have meant "I'm done working 6 days a week, I'm ready to sleep." But instead, I'm happy to announce that when I say "I'm done", it is in reference to my Christmas shopping. Oh, that's right. I'm DONE!!!!

My fab sis-in-law told me it was her goal to be finished by the 1st of December this year so she could focus more on her family and enjoying Christmas, and at first I will admit I bawked a little bit. At first I thought, "You must have been planning for ages already, there's no way I could do that." And then I started thinking, "Well, why couldn't I do it, too? It's not impossible... I'm going to do it." And I did! And now, in light of recent events, I'm so glad I did! Not only financially but for the peace of mind. I may not have finished by the 1st, but I don't think the 3rd is too bad of a record. So thanks Claire, for setting the bar high!

Now I have 21 more days to enjoy this season and spend this time with my great hubbs. He is working his tail off right now trying to find a job, and since he can't sit still (he gets that from his dad), my house is actually clean now! With me working all the time the only day I had to clean or do laundry was Sunday and I hate that. So it's been nice to have another set of hands to help me out, plus we've been able to spend a lot more time together. Which I guess doesn't make sense, because we were pretty much working the same hours before. Funny how things work out. This could easily have turned into the most stressful time in our marriage, but it has turned into one of the happiest. Which is weird, since I'm such a worrying control freak, but it is amazing the comfort you can receive if you're open to it. We both know everything is going to turn out just fine, so for now we're going to try and enjoy this season (and our anniversary, yay!) as much as possible.

I guess all I really wanted to do was to rub in that I am totally prepared for Christmas, and I just wanted to say that I hope everyone takes the time to enjoy this season, and gets to really enjoy it. Hot chocolate for all!

At Last....

I have finally conquered the battle against the computer not letting me download our family photos. So here we are.... Courtesy of Amber Rust, Two Color Photography.

Matt's Fave... of course. haha.

I hope they call me on a mission...

Taylor was finally able to open his mission call last night. He was called to serve the.....

Long Beach, CA -Spanish Speaking- Mission and he leaves January 10th.

Congrats Tay! We are so excited for you!!

Ponderings...

Thoughts currently occupying my brain:

1. Why can't it stay Fall/Winter weather -with no snow- forever?
2. How early is "too early" for me to decide to go back to bed? -Wish I was there now!
3. It would be so fab if I could win the lottery right now. Go ahead universe, make my day! Free Cheeseburgers and hot shoes for all!
4. Why can't I get our new family photos on here? They are so cute and I want to show them off
5. How can I plot to take the hubbs with me for the rest of our Christmas shopping and avoid him wandering off in the toy department?? (Love you dearly, hubbs!)
6. Would I make it to the ark if the world was about to explode? -And did anyone else see 2012?
7. Is Christmas over yet?? Working 6 days a week has severely increased my caffeine intake.
8. Is it Christmas yet?? (I'm so good at contradicting myself, huh?) I'm excited to give everyone the presents that are already wrapped and stashed in my closet!!
9. I am hoping Matt gets some time off so we can visit the Arizona clan... We miss you guys!
And Finally....
10. Where is Taylor going to be called to serve?! We find out tomorrow!
I think that's all for now... Stay tuned friends!

I Love My Leatherneck

Has anyone seen this new commercial? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9lkmd-mMJ0
Man, did it choke me up.
I just wanted to take a quick second to tell my hubby how proud I am of him to be his wife. I love you Corporal Phillips!

I know I am a few days late posting in time, but working two jobs and all the back and forth is really kicking my butt this week. Plus, Matt buzzed his hair in honor of Veterans Day, and I was hoping to get a picture of his devilishy handsome self. But that has yet to happen so I'll put this up without it. Hope you all had a great Veterans Day!

Halloween

Okay so I know I'm a little behind, but better late than never right? For Halloween this year we had a few friends over for some games, Psycho, and of course, yummy food! Here are a few random pictures :) Mostly this post is for Lisa, since she is being a party-pooper in China right now and wasn't able to come. So if these pics are random to the rest of you, I'm sorry. haha. Miss you Lisa!

Brady is the king of creepy faces. haha

Brady taking pictures of himself......

Maggie and I

Me wearing Brady's glasses. Wow my face looks weird! haha. That is rad.

Taylor is pretty good at looking creepy too! haha

And lastly... black roses in memory of Lisa's hilarious presence. haha -how morbid and appropriate for Halloween. We miss you Lisa!

PS - we have decided on a solution for the Man Cave... that, plus updated family pics are coming soon! So check back!

To Feverishly Rip Off.... Or Not?

Okay so I'm officially putting this to a vote.
As you can see, the second bedroom in our house is currently being labeled "The Man Cave." This serves as Matt's room/our office/and a place for all his sports stuff. We came to some strange agreement (brought on by the fact that Dave got to decorate the office at Dave and Ash's place in SLC) that if he had his own Man Cave until there was a little Phillips to occupy this second bedroom, I could decorate the house how I wanted. I do not know where he came up with this, but it works for me!

It is actually a lot more finished now that it was when I took the picture. Everything has been moved around in a more convenient way, and the desk is in here now. The TV isn't on the floor anymore either, haha. Well, when we moved in the walls were THIS COLOR and had this border around the top. You can't see it well in the pic, but it's a plane, car, train, sail boat etc. (This used to be the room of a 2 and 4 year boy. Can you tell? :) ) Anyway, we painted it this green color, which was supposed to be this nice pale, nursery type color. -Turned out a bit Lime-Sherbet-Green though.- This is obviously meant to be a nursery type color, but we figured it would be best to paint it now instead of waiting until all our stuff was in the way.
So, the plan was to paint and tear down the wallpaper. But, somewhere in the middle of painting, at 12am... with a room full of paint fumes... Matt said "Hey, why don't we just leave it up?" And inside my brain I responded "Nooo!" I hate wallpaper. I'll admit there are cute prints, and this is a pretty cute one, I just hate messing with it.
The other reason Matt wants to keep this up is he thinks it will influence the sex of our first child. (Why are we worrying about this right now? I do not know... refer to other posts on the status of our reproducing. haha.) So, in his mind Cars Wallpaper = Boy. hahaha. Would anyone out there in the void please help me in convincing him this is not the case? And that a. the harder he tries to influence the heavens for a boy, the more it will backfire on him. and that b. his wifey is always right and this paper has to go! :) Muchas Gracias!

One Step At A Time

We have been waiting to post pictures of rooms until they are done, so here is a shot or two of what is completely finished so far.

Our Front Door - with the cute flower windmill Frank made. We LOVE it.

"Every Love Story is Beautiful, But Ours is My Favorite"

My cute hubbs

Matt's Pumpkin

My Pumpkin - can you tell who it is?

One of my favorite Gals, Lisa just moved to China to be a big bad business woman. I MISS YOU LISA!

PS - this is my new 'do. Not sure if you can really tell any difference in this pic, but it is drastic A-line in the back and it is also... very red.

Shout Out

Okay, I have to admit my Twilight obsession... and also announce that the new movie comes out in T-minus 23 days!! Wahoo! In honor of this occasion, I have posted some of my fave photos that I have happily stolen from MSN Movies. There were 31 so it was hard to choose... I recommend checking them out for yourself!

Love this poster! She needs air, Edward!!!

I think Dakota Fanning is going to make an AWESOME Jane!! Did anyone else see Push?

Volterra. I won't lie - I wasn't Kristen Stewart's biggest fan as Bella in the first movie (too stiff!!), but from the stills she looks to be doing better... Guess I better give her another chance. (As if my opinion mattered here, haha)

And last but definitely not least, one of my favorite scenes from the book... ahh, the awkward-ness that is 2 guys trying to take you on the same date. hahahahaha. Love it.

Drama with a capitol D!

Happy Monday Everyone! (are you sensing the sarcasm?)
In case you were wondering where all the pics of our new place are, we are not in yet. Our closing date got pushed back a few days and since it's Columbus Day, it got pushed back even more. We should be able to get in to paint tomorrow, and move in all our stuff Wednesday though, so it has all worked out. Luckily our apartment has not filled our unit, so we were able to extend a few days. We are so excited to get into our own space and to make it our own. Have I expressed that already? :) haha. Anyway, more to come on that.
Also, Friday night was my Moms B-Day, so my little sis came over to our house to hang out while my mom and dad went to dinner. When we went inside it was dark, so neither of us noticed that her door didn't shut all the way. And Saturday morning when I went to my car, I noticed my crap strewn all over the place. I had been robbed!!! Can you believe that??? The list of items stolen: my Ipod, a watch I received as a graduation present, my nephew Drew's birthday present -Which I was on the way to mail when I got in the car.- my hair dye (??), and packing tape (???). I guess from this list you can deduct that I live in my car. hahaha. I had just purchased hair dye and the packing tape that night so my mom could dye my hair and I could continue packing the next day. When Ryann and I got to my house, we already had our arms full of stuff so I just left it out there. -And how do you sleep at night stealing a 3 year olds birthday present??? People amaze me. The thieves didn't get away with much of anything with any value, just my sense of security. So now we are definitely ready to move and have a fresh start. Of course Matt and I have our suspicions of who we think it was, but we'll see if the fingerprints the cops took will give us anything.
So there's the drama. Hopefully the next post will be a lighter one! haha. We are both ready for that! :)

Pics - As Promised :)

Well, here is a bunch of photos that never made it to the blog, but should have.
To start off is a super cute pic of Kristin and Bud from Peach Days. I could not get one of Bud looking at me for the life of me, thanks to Matt pulling funny faces behind me. hahaha.

One of the best groups in the parade this year. The Madrigals. Their theme was "Madrigals are like Barbies. Collect them all!" And they were all very in character... Especially Disco Ken as seen here...

This was a few guys from the USPS. I love the horn they were blowing. Reminded me of something you'd see from Dr Seuss.

Of course, this was Matt's fave thing from Peach Days. :)
Ryann sitting on Grandpa Sams lap during a Labor Day BBQ.

Me and Enee at the BBQ

This is one of my fave photos from Ethans birthday. Matt is such a patient uncle :)
And this is my other fave... Cheese!

And this concludes my summer photo montage. Tune in next week for another one since we move in Thursday! WOOHOO!!!!