New traditions!

Today in church, the talks given were about Christmas Traditions. Collin and I are both excited to start traditions of our own. For our wedding, well bridal shower I think, my aunt Joan gave us personalized Christmas stockings. I was so excited to put them up. We don't have a fireplace or chimney, so we made do with the space we have. We also got an adorable little 4' tree. And yes, those are actual presents. Collin is done with his Christmas shopping. While I was at work on Saturday, he took a trip down to Salt Lake to start (and finish) his shopping. He even wrapped most of them all by himself. :)

I'm grateful for...

...a Happy Thanksgiving!! This was our first Thanksgiving together (as married's). We didn't have enough time to go to Colorado, and since Collins parents are in Africa on a mission his siblings all did their own thing. Luckily, we were still able to spend the holiday with people we love! After work on Wednesday, we drove down to Alpine and stayed with the Denneys through Thursday night!

Craig, Sheri, Kim, Brett and Kristy invited us down to have Thanksgiving with them. It really felt like home away from home. I had a replica of my mom's apple pie. If anyone has tasted it, you know that she makes THE best apple pies. They are honestly scrumptious. mmm!! We have a few apple trees in the back yard, so I used them to make a pie. It wasn't quite as perfect as my mom's, but it was still super delicious. I should have taken a picture of it by itself, but of course I forgot.

I also made my dad's famous mashed potatoes (with a twist). He is from Idaho, so he obviously knows how to get it done and make them perfect. This time, Sheri had a few additions that I went with, and they were actually pretty darn good. I did get a pic of the whole feast, kinda. Crappy shot, but I did what I could.

We had a blast cooking together, rocking out to Janet Jackson thanks to Kimi D. :) While we were eating, we had a little visitor. He was just hangin out in the back yard. I think he wanted to get on the swing set, but decided against it when we were all staring at him from inside the house.

We also played some games while we were there! Mario Kart. Rock Band. Oh and of course we watched some our favorite shows too: Glee, Biggest Loser, So You Think You Can Dance! I don't think Thanksgiving could have been any better! I loved it! I'm VERY grateful for great friends and an incredible husband. We had a great time.

Most recent trip to CO!

COLORADO was phenomenal. We went straight from DIA to Woodys Wings! Oh man, I love that place. I haven't been able to go there the last few times (and everyone knew I was bugged during those trips that I was being deprived of it), so we finally got to go. We later went to PF Changs downtown with all my sibs and their spouses and my parents. Then, most of us went to the Nuggets/Lakers game. Can I tell you how much I love the Pepsi Center? I loved going to Avalanche and Nuggets games there when I was still living at home. Plus, I got to sing the National Anthem there twice (don't worry, they were just high school basketball games, but still... Pepsi Center).

The next day, Saturday, we woke up early and Collin went to play basketball with my dad, brother and bro-in-laws. He loved it, as usual. I went to Jacinths bridal shower at Anna's house. It was so wonderful seeing so many old faces. I'm so blessed to have grown up with so many incredible examples around me. Our home stake is loaded with amazing people, and I loved seeing so many of them.

After the shower, the ladies of the family (i.e. Mom, Grandma, Tiffany, Sadie, Amy, Mya, Jen, Emily and me) and my DAD went to Wicked at the Beull Theater at the Denver Center of Performing Arts. It blew my mind how spectacular it was. I can't get it out of my mind. And of the week previous had Defying Gravity on Glee to prep me for the excitement. I just loved it and can't wait to see it again.

The rest of the weekend, the whole fam got to hang out and just spend time together. My mom planned a whole Thanksgiving feast for us, since we weren't going to be able to make it to Colorado for TG this year. (But rest assured, we get to spend it with the Denneys in Alpine and are SO stoked.) This was the travel fiasco: Last weekend, Collin and I took a trip to Colorado for the weekend. Since we're both technically in the retail business, these are harder to come by. We decided we'd take Friday and Saturday off from work so we could travel Thursday evening. This came back to bite us in the booty. Our scheduled flight was at 8:30 so Collin could drive down to SLC to meet me (I was already at the airport because I car-pooled with a co-worker to a training there earlier in the day). Anyway, we got through security in no time and got to the gate where we patiently awaited the arrival of the plane to take us to Denver. Well, the wait turned into a ridiculous night of zero communication and mass amounts of frustration. The people working what must be the late shift were inexplicably incompetent. We had no idea what was going on, when we'd get on a plane or how we were going to get to CO. It turns out that the plane we were supposed to take had a broken part (always such a pleasant thing to hear when you're planning on taking it across the mountains in the air). So, they finally told us, after much "run-around" if you will, that they would create a flight out first thing in the morning to get us to CO. They'd put us up in a hotel in SLC and give us some meal vouchers for dinner that night and the next morning @ 730am. After a beautiful discussion, heavily suggested by my good Dad over the phone, they also agreed to give us free flight vouchers. I was satisfied for the time being. We went to the Red Lion on the airport shuttle and ate at their cute litttle diner. We slept AMAZINGLY well. When we checked in they asked if we wanted a Queen or a King. Really? Ya haveta ask? Oh the King was fabulous! I can't believe Steffan and Amy waited 8 years into their marriage to get one! Anyway, we woke up super early the next morning to catch the shuttle back to the airport . We flew through security again and got to the gate where the carrier representative told me that everything was "a GO" for the flight and that we were at a different gate. It wasn't 15 minutes later when a fellow passenger we'd recognized from the night previous and the hotel came and sat right next to us, preterbed. "Can you believe this?" she asked. "Um, what?" She informed us that we'd be waiting until 11am at the earliest to get out. The part and the mechanic finally flew into SLC just before 10 to do some damage control. FINALLY it was fixed, and we were on our way at 11:45am. (i edited this to be last because the complaining was getting on my nerves...) All in all, the weekend was a blast, even though we had a bumpy start. And plus, we got those flight vouchers so we are even closer to taking our vaca to Costa Rica next year. :)

Random Thoughts of Gratitude

I've had a few friends take on the idea of blogging or "status updating" every day about something for which they are grateful. I figured if I did the same thing, I'd be "that girl" who takes someone elses idea and makes it her own, which I always thought was kind of annoying. So I definitely don't want to be "that girl." Instead, I figured I'd make a list of sorts to show my gratitude. And since it's alread Nov 17, more than halfway through the month, the list won't be nearly as awesome as my friends' "thankful-post-per-day" thing! So, here are is my first list! PEOPLE! I can't believe I'm admitting to this, but it is a segway into my disclaimer. I embarrassingly have a ridiculous number of friends on facebook. I don't use that social networking site as much as I used to, but even still, 1000+ friends is something to be proud of (or as mentioned previously, quite embarrassing). So, having known so many fantastic people, if I don't include you in this list, you have my apologies. And chances are, I am still quite grateful for you, but just don't have the time to go through every single person who has touched my life! With that being said, here's the list!!! :) 1.) Family!

I know it's lame to lump this one into something so broad, but give me a break. I've got amazing family! I went home to Colorado this weekend (I will post more later, when I have my pictures loaded to the computer) and it was FABULOUS! We always have such a great time.

• I got to visit my grandparents, who are such great people. If you've met Grandpa Lee and Grandma Shirley, I already think you are so much better off than if you haven't. They are the most loving, charitable, giving, spiritual, fun grandparents anyone could ever ask for. One of my favorite things about them is that there are TONS of people that refer to them as Grandma and Grandpa Carlson! :) LOVE that! And even though Grandpa has alzheimers, he's still so loving and Grandma is so strong to be plugging along while he's got that.

• My family is so fun! My parents are so involved in everything anyone does. Back to when we were in high school, they were always at all our concerts, games, banquets, whatever. They were there! And now that they have a sleu of grandchildren, they still manage to make all the soccer games, plays and the like. They're so supportive and work so hard to make sure that everything runs smoothely in the family.

• Along the same lines, my siblings are awesome. As the youngest, I've been able to take a little something with me from all of them and they have all influenced me so much! I loved being home this weekend, because I was reminded of things like: what great a Dad Cory is, how much alike all my sisters are, how adorable all my neices and nephews are, how funny my brothers-in-law are, how fun it is to hang out and spend time with my sibs and their spouses, how smart Sadie is (she gave an amazing talk in Sacrament meeting on Courage), and just how great family is! :) LOVE it!

• I love having a tight-knit extended family too. I am blessed to have so many friends that are my cousins! I'm so glad I grew up close to family. Even when I went to College @ BYU, I still had family close by. I was able to live in Grandma's condo with Tawny, at another point with Anna, in the same ward as Jayci, etc! It was so great being so close to them and knowing that I didn't have to get on a plane to fly to Colorado to see family!

• I think I mention him in every post I write, but I can't pass over my cute hubster! Collin is so amazing and treats me so well. He teaches me every day and has helped me to become such a better person. My testimony has been strengthened with his help; we read the scriptures together, we go to the temple together, we pray together! He has had an incredible impact on my life and I feel so blessed to spend eternity with him!

The last part of this large lump list of family is In-Laws! I married into such an incredible family. Collin's siblings and parents are so much fun, and so interested in everyone's well-being. His parents are serving a mission in Uganda, Africa, and are such great examples of amazing members of the church. They have so much love to give, which they spread to their family and everyone they see. I feel so blessed that 4 out of his 6 siblings live only an hour away from us and that we get to see them so much here in Utah! I love them! I'm blessed to be a Thornton, Carlson and Rothey!! I love family!

Remember Halloween?

Oh ya! Halloween! I know it was weeks ago, but we finally got our internet all set up so I can finally post about it! By the way, "Hello from The Rothey's!"

Here's a little preface for you! Collin has been on a religious kick for his Halloween costumes. Last year, he was a Sister Missionary! You read it right! SISTER missionary! What a nerd! A few weeks before Halloween, we were trying to come up with costumes. His hair was getting so long. He usually doesn't like the in between stages, but he was really liking it.

Despite that little fact, he decided he would be a MONK! Yes, a MONK!! On Halloween afternoon, before the festivities, we literally shaved his head to be just like one. I got home from work around 3:30 and he had done most of it, and I could not stop laughing. It was absolutely hilarious. I knew he was planning on doing it, but I couldn't imagine what it would look like and had no clue he was going to shave it as short as he did. This is just one step above "BIC"ing it bald.

Of course, since he was a Monk, I got a sweet $10 Nun costume from Smith's. Amazing that you can buy your Nun costume along with your bread and milk, all on the same stop. Thank you, Smith's Marketplace.

Later that afternoon, the Sanders and the Denneys drove up to Logan from Provo to spend the weekend with us! And I'm so glad they did, because it was such a blast to have so much time to hang out. They put their costumes on when they got here (Brett/Kristy = 70's and Skyler/Melissa = Spider and Fly). We took a few pictures, then went to Texas Road House for dinner... IN OUR COSTUMES. It was hilarious, all the looks that we got! Well, I think Brett and Collin got the most looks, because of Brett's super tight 70's pants (the male servers were staring SO bad) and because of Collins bald head. Double take after Double take. I loved it.

When we got home, we didn't have anyone to take more pictures of us, so we set the timer. The first sequence took about 4 pictures. We did it again, and it went off for at least 10 shots. We were all laughing hysterically because we weren't expecting it at all. I love the last picture of us all dying laughing.

The rest of the weekend consisted of watching a scary movie, going to Sacrament meeting, watching the Broncos game and playing some games (Loaded Questions --> SO Fun). It was such a fun weekend and I'm so glad our friends came to hang out with us! Sad to see them go, but such a good time!! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!!!

World Wide Web

We finally bought the world wide web.

It'll be up and running tomorrow after 5pm.

Then, I'll be able to post about Halloween! :)

Finally!

That's all for now!