out west...

We have survived finals and our first flight and are now safely and happily in Orangeville with the Tanners. We each feel pretty good about the semester, but Skyler doesn't find out his grades until January. No real worries though; I think he will do well.

I was able to stop and see my sister for a quick second to exchange our Christmas presents for each other on my way to OV. We did a fun little exchange in the conference room of her work. Silly, but it was the only time we could see each other before Christmas. It sure does make me happy to be with family.

Skyler's brother, Stetler, has a Christmas party for school (yes, in small-town Utah you can call it that, not a holiday party!). I get to go with Stet, I think it will be a blast. While I am there Skyler will be at the Christmas party for Kohler at pre-school, so we will have lots of fun photos.

Here is a picture that we hadn't seen before today. It was taken in August and is being used for the family Christmas card this year.

What a handsome bunch!

December in Ithaca...

Well the snow storm that hit my friends in Utah on Saturday hit us on Tuesday. We woke up to a world of white...and even better...a day off from school! Skyler still went to school to study for finals, but I enjoyed my first snow day of the season and hung out at home in my cozy warm clothes and drank hot chocolate.

Our view of the snow storm

We have been trudging through the week studying for finals and writing final papers. Doesn't sound too exciting, but it is actually going quite smoothly. Skyler finished his first final yesterday and just has two left. I have finished the majority of my papers and just have one final left and a bit more to add to one of my papers. I also need to update my web portfolio, but nothing too hefty on my calendar.

We have been enjoying the snow from inside since it has been an average of 15 degrees outside these days. We have done most of our Christmas shopping and have been able to enjoy the spirit of Christmas with lots of holiday music. Nothing like a white December to get you in the mood for the holidays and time with family!

Our festive living room

adapted from glimpseofnatalie.blogspot.com

Our week in Florida...

We had a fantastic time in Walt Disney World for the Tanner Family Reunion. We were able to spend time with all of the family. It was great to be with everyone and very special to see everyone so strong and happy together.

The Thanksgiving dinner was amazing. The food was delicious and everyone was able to chat and catch up. It was definitely a gathering to be thankful for.

The other big news of the week is that Skyler accepted the offer at Chadbourne and Parke in NYC. So we will officially be living in NYC this summer and after graduation. We are really excited! The more we think about it the happier we are and the more anticipation there is, and a feeling of comfort that we made the best of the right choices.

Well, there were so many pictures to post from WDW that I posted them on our picasa account so check them out at http://picasaweb.google.com/smtanners or hit the "SMT Web Album" link in the upper right hand corner.

We hope you enjoy!

ABC tag...

I have lots to say about Thanksgiving break, but I am going to stick with the short and sweet stuff right now.

A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Skyler Mark
C- Cake or Pie: Pie...Pear Pie
D- Day of choice: Friday or Saturday, date day/night.
E- Essential Item: foundation
F- Favorite Color: It has to be a combo-- ivory, burgundy, and purple
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: worms, sour
H- Hometown: Camas, WA.
I- Indulgence(s): Popcorn
J- January or July: July
K- Kids: someday
L- Life is incomplete without: my family and my testimony
M- Marriage Date: April 28, 2006
N- Number of Siblings: 1
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges
P- Phobias or Fears: not being able to breathe
Q- Quotes: "No other success can compensate for failure in the home."
R- Reason to Smile: Waking up to the love of my life singing Garth Brooks while he is making breakfast. That always means it is going to be a good day.
S- Season: Fall in Ithaca, Spring/Summer in Camas, & Winter in Utah.
T- Tag Three: Mel, Lindsey, & Crystal.
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I like to organize bills ($), first by worth and then serial number. I have done this since I was little.
V- Vegetarian or Meat Eater: all of the above
W- Worst Habit: Pointing
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I associate ultrasounds with babies and x-rays with broken bones, so I vote ultrasounds.
Y- Your Favorite Food: Fresh seafood
Z- Zodiac: Scorpio

Thanksgiving in the sun...

Well, it is blustery and snowing here in Ithaca. But luckily, through the love of G & G Tanner, we get to escape the bitter cold. We are going to be spending Thanksgiving at Walt Disney World with all of our extended family on the Tanner side. It is going to be a blast. I will be sure to post our adventures when we return. I never dreamed of going to Walt Disney World...Disneyland was as far as this West coast girl ever thought of.

We can't wait to be in the world of magic! Too bad I am probably too old for a princess costume! :)

Visitors...

Ashley, Nathan, and Easton came up to be with us this weekend. It was great to have them in our home. We were able to just enjoy spending time together. We didn't do anything terribly out of the ordinary, which was actually quite refreshing because we just wanted to be able to chat and hang out at home playing games and talking lots. Sadly, I got a bit sick while they were here, but hopefully there was no damage done. Easton is getting so big! And is still the cutest baby ever. He just smiles and smiles. I love being his aunt! He sure loved to look at Skyler.

We failed to take any pictures of us all together this last weekend, but here are a few of Easton that Ash has sent me recently. Ash, remind me next time to take some pics of us all together! :)

Easton in his puppy costume for Halloween. Cutest puppy ever!

Easton sporting a Seahawks jersey...yay for Seattle! (P.S. He is always this smiley...how wonderful!)

My talented mother...

So, my mama is amazing...and I want to share her talent. She just made this adorable cake for someone at home. I have never seen such a great cake. It is all of fondant. The bassinet is made out of rice-crispy treats. My mom even painted the cat stripes with watered-down food coloring. Such talent! The couple asked for the cake to include their pets and their new baby. How adorable!

Tagged...

Mel tagged me... :)

Six things people may not know about me...
1. To get a good night sleep, I have to have a fan on, even in the winter. My mom calls it my personal serenity device. Skyler likes to sing the Eve 6 song to make fun of me "Why do you gotta keep the fan on high when its cold outside." We get a crack out of that.

2. I cook to relieve stress. The book "Eat Cake" reminds me of myself.

3. I have a coat fetish. I can't resist a classy, beautiful pea coat. I get this from my father, a man who owns 30 some-odd coats.

4. I have an obsession with homes and home decor. You wouldn't know this looking at our apartment. I grew up watching renovation projects around my home and the classic favorite, "This Old House." I have driven all around Ithaca trying to find my favorite home for when we buy a house. It is on the corner of Hanshaw and Cayuga Heights Road, for my fellow Ithacans.

5. One of my silly childhood dreams was to have a willow tree in my backyard. And we have one here, that is one reason why I don't want to leave our country-bumpkin apartment in the middle of nowhere.

6. I love fog. It is one of those silly things that allows me to enjoy Ithaca so much. The fog on our hill, across into the valley, and on the opposite hill makes for beautiful morning views and reminds me of Washington.

I tag Amy, Angella, Abby, Lindsey, Chels, and Natalia.

23 in NYC...

The giant piano at FAO Schwarz..these guys were really good!

Us at Rockefellar Center...the ice rink is open! It already feels like Christmas in NYC! I loved it!

The Rockefeller Building...where Chadbourne and Parke is...maybe this will be Skyler's building! It would be a fun view to see all the ice skaters and holiday decorations down below. I wonder when they will put the tree up?!

Grand Central Station...Skyler will commute to here everyday if we decide to live in NYC! It is a beautiful building and I love the hustle and bustle of it all.

We went to NYC for the weekend. Skyler needed to meet with two firms that he has an offer from and he wanted me to be able to spend my birthday in the city. We had a great time. We mostly just wandered around and talked about whether or not we want to live there.

I had a great birthday. Skyler was sweet and woke me to presents and ordered breakfast in bed at the hotel so I got to enjoy fancy French toast in a fancy bed. Then I spent the day at a Starbucks so I could write one of my papers for school. It was a nice NYC day!

To add to the great birthday, I heard from all of my close friends and family, which definitely made my day. It feels weird to be 23! I think I might be able to enjoy it...but one of my friends said that at 23 you are officially getting old...uh oh!

Our View...

I thought I loved the view from our apartment last year, but it is even better this year! The colors are so vibrant right now. I love seeing this each morning. Before I left Washington I never knew how many colors trees could be! I love autumn in New York!

Sketch...

Here Chels, I thought these might help. These are the ones I was looking at while I was trying to find inspiration. Thanks for giving it a shot!

Time Out for Women

Hilary Weeks performing...and making me cry.

Viriginia Hinckley Pearce...speaking and reminding me to appreciate this time of personal growth

A book by my new favorite speaker, Jane Clayson Johnson. She was able to express so many things that I have been feeling while Skyler and I have both been in school. I will definitely be reading her book when I finish all my assigned texts for school.

I went to "Time Out for Women" with Crystal this weekend and we had a blast. It was very inspirational but more than that it helped me to re-focus on where I am at and being happy about it. Things have been so busy lately that I haven't been able to "enjoy" being in school, it has just been something to do to and get it out of the way so I can move on with my life. After attending this conference, I can remember why I decided to go to grad school and what a blessing it is to continue my education. Hearing these women talk about their experiences living back east emphasized to me how much of a blessing it is for us to be here. Being here in New York has been the best thing Skyler and I have done. We are so close to one another. He is definitely my best friend. We have had opportunities here that we would have never been given elsewhere.

It was great to hear of these amazing women. It was even better to hear these women say that they aren't perfect and have had struggles. It seems like sometimes I look at women that stay home with babies and think that they have it made (not that it is easy, but that it would be so fulfilling). But really, honestly, every women "has it made" if they make what they have great. This is a pretty mushy entry, but it was a pretty mushy activity. I loved it! I want to go to the couples one with Skyler. Plus, now I have been to one more state, because this was in Connecticut!

Spinning in circles...

Skyler now has several offers on the table and it seems that all we ever do is talk about where to live. We have offers in D.C., NYC, and SLC thus far. We are still hoping to hear from Seattle. Everything we talk about relates to what life would be like in the various cities. The crazy thing is, we would love to live in each city for different reasons.

Our good friends Melanie and Gary just took an offer in NYC, so we would love to be near them. My best friend Ashley, lives in D.C. Skyler's family is in Utah. And Seattle is a pipe-dream. For two indecisive people, we sure have a lot of decisions to make. My mom has even jokingly said that she doesn't want another phone call from us until we have an offer from Seattle. It seems like we have a reason to call home with news about offers every day.

Even with all of the decisions, we have been having a great time. We spent last weekend in NYC for interviews and to watch conference with friends in New Jersey. I have fallen in love with the West Village in NYC and love all of the culture of NYC.

We are semi-planning a trip to D.C. to remind us of how much we love it. Every time we go visit any of our prospective cities we love them and think they are the best. The biggest trouble is balancing family life, money, and anticipated work experience for Skyler.

This week is Skyler's fall break, and my week of school and huge projects, but I can't seem to focus. Choosing where to live is just so much more important than writing papers. This weekend I am going to Connecticut with Crystal to the women's conference Time out for Women. It should be a lot of fun.

Here are a few new pictures...

Sailboats in Central Park...(for Dad!)

Our fancy hotel in Manhattan...nicer than our apartment.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.

NYC...

We have been traveling like crazy. I never imagined that I would travel around NYC and DC. Skyler has been doing interviews and I have been trying to decide if I could live in a big city.

Skyler's interviews have been going well. I have started to like the city life...I may in fact be a city-slicker in disguise. I can't decide, I do for some reason find it a compliment when Skyler calls me a hippie! Maybe I will be a yuppie!

We spent this last weekend in NYC. Skyler had interviews on Friday, so I just entertained myself at the ritzy shops like Anthropoligie and Coach. I felt like I had to wear a nice sophisticated outfit just to go window shopping!

Friday night was a dream come true! We went to a quaint but classy restaurant and had fancy dinner. Then we went to Les Mis on Broadway. It was AMAZING! There is nothing like Broadway. After the show we walked along Broadway and Time Square. It was fantastic.

Saturday we went to Little Italy, Chinatown, and to Brooklyn Heights. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and found the chocolatier the Lynn raves about, Jacque Torres. Now I know why she loves it so much. It is delicious. We ate dinner at a small restaurant in Little Italy, the waiter was quite a flirt. Then, like the crazy people we are, we walked all the way from Little Italy to our hotel in uptown Manhattan. It was great to see everything and "soak in" NYC.

Sunday we were able to go to church and it was actually held in a chapel inside the temple. It was neat. You step off the subway and all of a sudden you look up and see the temple. We also walked around Central Park and went to Serendipity (a restaurant from the movie Serendipity). It was great to spend so much time together and to explore NYC together. Who knows, maybe it will be our home for a few years.

Sorry to not have pictures...I will post them soon, but I have to have them put onto a CD.

We haven't run away...

We have been all over the country in that last three weeks. I had every intention of posting to our blog while we were gone...but in the chaos of packing something always seems to left at home and this time it was my usb cord for my camera. I promise I will post soon.

Utah came to New York!

We spent the entire day in Palmyra yesterday and had a great time. Skyler and I volunteered as Pageant Security from 9am-1pm. We just got to play on radios together and direct traffic up and down the hill. It was fun...and I got some sun!

We entertained ourselves at little shops and things during the day, then we watched the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was really beautiful. It was especially neat to be surrounded by so many other girls in long shorts! And hearing all the Mormon-lingo. I miss Utah for all of that. Everyone was very friendly and everyone knew...Mormon or not...that we were all there for the same reason, which gave a sense of respect and friendship.

Palmyra Temple

One of the characters

Opening scene

Tree of Life scene

our garden update...

Not much happened today. I was able to babysit Blythe today and Skyler went to work. I really enjoyed my day with Blythe and found it to be relaxing but still productive. She was a bit disappointed that I didn't bring Skyler with me, so we managed to stop by and say hi to him at the law school. Blythe thought the law school was so neat...and she giggled with delight when Skyler met up with us.

The most exciting thing in our day has been to see our garden growing. I can't believe it! We have so many veggies growing now! It makes me feel like I get something done during the day. So for those interested, here is our garden as of today. What a neat thing to have our first garden and see it growing so well!

strawberries, chives & cilantro...we have eaten all three and they are delicious!

our tomatoes just sprouted a few days ago...and now we have 9!

spring salad mix...changing color & hopefully now it is less bitter tasting...got a little ahead of myself one day!

our squash plant is huge and has over 10 squash buds! Yum, yum!

I really worried that our cucumber wasn't going to make it at the beginning...but with a little tlc it has turned around and has sprouted several cucumbers and there are lots of flowers suggesting we will have lots of cucumber salad this fall!

I think it is so interesting that such tiny flowers change into cucumbers.

thousand islands...

We spent the weekend up at the Thousand Islands on the New York side and it was beautiful! We went with our friends, the Transtrum's, from our branch. We camped at a state park, saw Ratatouille at a drive-in, took a ferry, and toured a castle. The area was gorgeous and Jenny and I couldn't stop saying that it reminded us of the Columbia River Gorge with all its green trees and clear water, but it is missing the beautiful hills. We would definitely love to go there again and it is on our list of places to take visiting family.

Us at our campground...right on the St. Lawrence River

Heart Island, home of the Boldt Castle Estate

Boldt Castle...the castle we toured

Me in the library of the castle

Me dancing in the elegant ballroom...Skyler joined me after the picture! I would love to dance in a ballroom similar to this dressed in a beautiful gown someday! Like Beauty and the Beast!

Skyler on the bridge to the castle's powerhouse

Us in front of the powerhouse

Me, Jenny, and Mark, on the ferry back to Alexandria Bay

the bridge toward Canada that we hiked to get a better view of the islands

us at the top of the bridge

view from the bridge...amazing!

One of the highlights of the trip in addition to the beautiful scenery was our stop at Dinosaur Bar-B-Q on our way back into town. Dinosaur Bar-B-Q is a biker bar/restaurant that everyone in the area raves about. And now we know why. We have had their food at a catered event at the law school, but the fresh food at the restaurant was absolutely amazing...karrass amazing even! The place had a ton of character, some unmentionable, and some just out-right funny/wacky. Skyler and I loved the pulled pork and will have to go back for more someday!

clearly a biker joint...fun!

crazy dinosaur murals all around!

Us after all of our delicious food! Take note of the salt potatoes as the Veggie of the day...a New England favorite that we have recently discovered, and love!

the nines...

There is a pizza joint that Skyler really likes in Collegetown...The Nines. It is a funky little place that has so much character. It is a great place to meet friends and chat. We went there for lunch on Monday just to enjoy some time in the middle of the day to catch up with each other and take a break from our projects.

This main entrance speaks volumes about the atmosphere at The Nines!

Very random decor

The kitchen is above the eating area so they deliver the pizza with a dumbwaiter. Fun!

Things were pretty crazy for me before yesterday. I have officially finished my last day of working at the nursery school...bittersweet definitely. And I have just finished my huge projects for the first summer term (We had a couple of late nights!). I think the term has gone really well and I really feel like I have been able to think more about what I believe and how I what I want to implement curriculum in my future classroom.

All in all life is great. I am ready to take advantage of my few days off before the chaos starts again!