December decorations!!!

So, when we went to Utah for Thanksgiving, Mark's mom got some cute little decorations and sent them home with us. She gave us cute little snowmen, and a little sign that says "We still believe." And then, I went to Seagull Book and picked up some Simon Dewey 3x4 Nativity cards, like the shepards pointing at the star, the baby in the manger, and Mary, Joseph and baby in the stable. I saw those and instantly got an idea. I wanted to find a multiple-picture frame, and then find a way to wrap in Christmas wrapping paper, like a present. We went to Roberts and found a "floating" frame, which fit my 3 little pictures perfectly! And then we went and wrapped presents, and I wrapped my frame. I love how it turned out, and was so excited that I thought it up that fast!! I love it!! After I put this cute little "Christmas Present" and put up some of my other Decemeber decor, that I had around the house. Like my countdown blocks and my snowmen from Mark's mom. I brought up our Christmas decor box from the dungeon, and I will be peroidically putting up our winter stuff. I'll be doing that in between making gifts, so I don't get burned out, I'll switch it up. I'm excited about Christmas. I'm excited about getting in the gift giving spirit. Here's a collage with the decorations I've got up so far. :)

Love to all - bry and mark

November means fall

Thanksgiving was exactly how it should be (I missed my family, but they know it!). There was hardly any snow (in the mountains and the high elevations there was, but not around Clinton!), it was chilly, and it smelled like fall! It was so nice! There was hunting and turkey and pie and football. Mark's mom and I watched the Packers game while we cooked food, and then the boys came back and we watched the Packers game again, it was the best ever!! We went and watched The Blind Side, which is a way aweome movie. And Mark and I got to hang out with friends, we made ginger bread houses with Angie & Smitty and with Bubba & Tracy. (More on the Gb houses later.) It was so much fun just hanging out with his family. I thought about my family quite a bit, and how we all would get together and watch football and play cards and eventually go outside and throw the football around. It made me excited for Mark and I to start a family and start our own Thanksgiving traditions. I'm excited for these things to be ours, but I can wait!! :) The past year has come and gone so fast! It's Mark's birthday next Saturday, and I'm torn on what to day. I know I really need to get my Christmas presents finished (and so does Mark) but I have a buy-1-get-1-free coupon for a daily lift ticket. What to do?! I'm so excited to start snowboarding again, we didn't go last year cuz of the heart stuff, so we haven't gone in over 2 years! We both enjoy it, even though I'm not very good. I'm excited to get better. But if we go, this will a completely new thing for me, again, it'll be the first time since the open heart surgery. (I'm not worried about it, my heart is completely healed!!) I'm excited to see if I can notice a difference, to see if I can breathe as we go down the hill (last time we went, it hurt so bad to go DOWN the hill!) I'm so excited to get back on the board!! Time to get some long underwears!! We'll see how much I can get done on presents. The last day to mail presents so they get delivered by Dec. 25th is DECEMBER 17TH!! So I have to mail everything by then! That's my deadline!! We'll just have to see how things go!

Love to all- bry and mark

27 Days of Thankful - 27

Day 27 : I have been thankful for 27 days!! This "program" has helped me gain a better perspective of my life and so realize that I have A LOT to be thankful for! Also, this program has inspired me to try the Project Life in 2010. I really like the idea of writing down something everyday. I'm pretty excited to start this new project. (It's my birthday present!! I'm so excited! However, I'll get it after my birthday, but that's ok, I'm going to take pics and jot some notes for the part of January I don't have my present!) It has made me really grateful for what I have and to notice all that I do have!! :) But, today I am thankful for Black Friday Bird Shoots! Every Thanksgiving that the Collard boys are together, they go rabbit hunting in the morning (to leave the girls alone to cook.) and they went to the Black Friday Bird Shoot today, supposedly to leave the ladies to go shopping. But, Mark's mom and I tagged along, we went and watched our pup point at some birds. He was so good!! He learned so much today! He pointed at the pheasants and he even got a few! (For one, he chased it down and fought with it, and when Mark got up to him, Bandit was standing on the bird!!) He was such a good bird dog! Plus, he was the only dog out there that didn't have a shock collar on, granted, he wasn't the most well behaved dog, but he was way good at getting the birdies. It was way nice to get Bandit out there to see what other dogs do, and to get him the training and to get him excited about birds!! It was such a nice day, it was cold, but really a nice day! I am thankful for my family, and how I love hunting just like them (I fit in!). It was a nice day together with them, and having fun with them!!

What are you thankful for? Check out what Amanda is thankful for! Thank you Amanda for this great idea, I'm pretty sure this is a new tradition for our family!

PS- I did go shopping today, but it was at 4:30 pm, and the only place I went to was Seagull Book (hey! I'm in Utah, I HAD to go!!) and I went looking for a book, but didn't find it, and I got some shirts and a 6-picture frame for $7!!! I am so excited!! That was the only place I went, the only place I could stand to go, there was NO way I was setting foot in WalMart today, they parking lot looked like a zoo! Ugh!

Love always, bry and mark

27 Days of Thankful - 26

Day 26 : I am thankful for non-existent holiday traffic and good weather. Mark and I drove to Utah last night. We both thought there would be tons of traffic on the roads and that it would be slow going, and if anything, there would be tons of cops on I-80. WRONG!!! There was NO traffic, and we were able to zip right thru Wyoming, and as far as I know, we only saw cops heading East. It was smooth sailing from Colorado to Utah. Only one minor mishap of getting dinner, we took the wrong exit, I wasn't paying attention (I was reading Fablehaven 3 out loud) and Mark thought we always took the 2nd exit. Considering it is November and we had terrible snow storms in September and October, I thought we would see a little snow, but the only snow we saw was the snow on the hills and mountains and on the side of the road. It was a cloudless night, and the weather was perfect!! We couldn't have asked for better holiday travel conditions!

What are you thankful for today?!!

Happy Turkey Chow day to all!! Thanksgiving is such an awesome holiday, I love getting together with family and hanging out. I am so excited to watch football this year, I am actually keeping track of me team! I am missing my family this time of year, though, they know I love them, and I would go see them if I could. But I am excited to spend this Thanksgiving with Mark's family. His family is great!! The boys are actually in the truck heading out to the hunting spot. They go rabbit hunting every year. :) Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

Much love to all - love, bry and mark

27 Days of Thankful - 25

Day 25: I am thankful for short work weeks. Although I was completely distracted all week, I really didn't get any work done, this week has been a good week. Also, everybody is on vacation, they have slowly been leaving the office all week. Today, there 2 people here in my department, and he sits in another part of the office altogether. So, it's pretty much just me. (Go figure that today would be the day I get to work early, when I have nothing to do!!) I am thankful I have the rest of the week to spend with family. I'm thankful we're going to see friends, and go hunting, and watch football. I am thankful I was able to make pies for tomorrow. I am so excited to see the family!!

What are you thankful for today?

**Hmm, these pies are so easy, they might just turn into gifts to neighbors and friends. I know a few people who could use a pie right about now.... I am thinking of you all.

Love and kindness this Thanksgiving, bry and mark

27 Days of Thankful - 24 and Week 11

Day 24 : So I have gone to sites all over to get new ideas. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for alot, but I feel like I covered the general groups. And I got to thinking about how blessed I am for all that we have. So today : I am thankful for blessings. I know that seems like a general statement as well, but what I mean is : in times of need, and times of trouble, things have miraculously worked out for us. The bills have evened up, the dog's food is on sale, I end finding coupons for ALL the things we need at the store, Mark gets sent checks from a place he worked when he was 12 because he never cashed them, having a job that gives paid medical leave, getting a phone call when it's been a really bad day, having a friend stop by, getting a check in the mail for Halloween. Ok, what I am really trying to say is, that Mark and I have gone thru hard times (who hasnt?!) but we always come thru them stronger than before. We feel the prayers and the blessings given in our names. We hadn't even been married 3 months before we were told I needed open heart surgery again. We freaked, but people from church and friends from home, and family all came together to help us thru it. When Mark and I were looking to move due to said surgery, we got a check in the mail, and we were able to move out of those horrible apartments. Things really have amazing for us, and I am so very grateful for all that we have and all that we have been blessed with. I am thankful that we have both been blessed with a positive outlook on things that happen. Neither of us really gets mad (frustrated YES, but mad, no.) and no matter what, we are able to talk to each other about everything. I love how blessed we are and feel.

What are you thankful for today? Check out Amanda's thankful list.

Week 11 Fantasy Footbal :
Mark : 91 (3-8)
Bry : 95 (4-7)

Mark and I played each other again this week, and it was so close! We went and watched the game at Gerrit and Angie's. It came down to the last field goal! Mark and I were tied for almost the entire 4th quarter of the Titans/Texans game. Mark has Nate Washinton (WR) on the Titans, and I have Rob Bironas (K) on the Titans, so if the Titans got a TD, my kicker would go in get some points for me! But Mark only got points if Washington got the TD. He was so back and forth, THROW IT! No!!! Wrong guy! It was lots of fun to play against each other again. I won!! But it was very very close. (Next year we've got plans to have a Collard Family League, his folks and brothers and us, it's going to be awesome!)

Love - bry and mark

Contradictory socks and hair scare no more

Lately Mark has been asking me for more socks. He even went so far as to ask "Every time you go to Walmart, pick me up a pack, please." In my head, I was thinking, ok, that's do-able. Realistically, I only did it once, because I kept finding his socks all over the house! Behind the couch, in the video game box, under the table, in his shoes, in the truck, in the closet. So I washed them all, now he doesn't need socks. Imagine that! But I have come to discover that socks don't last as long for boys as they do for girls. I have had my socks since before Mark and I started dating (about 3 years ago) and Mark got all new socks when he moved out of his house (about 18 months ago) and his socks are in shreds! I just keep losing mine. So I went to Walmart last night and bought a pack for ME! I really did need socks. I figured I was picking up a pack of No Boundaries socks, I've always had good luck with those, they are comfy. I picked the multi color pack, if I get all the same color, I lose more that way. So I got the pack with the green, orange, pink, red, blue and black. On the toes I thought they said No Boundaries, but nope, they say No Nonsense. I thought that was soo odd! I found the package and they aren't No Boundaries, they really are No Nonsense socks! So, my socks say No Nonsese, I think it's pretty funny, because I think this whole time of year is full of nonsense (shopping and deals and sales....) Plus, if anyone knows me, I'm not really a "no nonsense" kind of girl. I live for the funny stuff and the random stuff. (Mark and I even play the Thumbs game-last person to put up his thumbs says the prayer- and we do Jinx when we both say the same thing-Mark complains because I'm dang good at switching it up from You owe me a soda to You owe me buffalo wings or You owe me kisses- and we still go get pictures from the photo booth. All about the random crazy things that make me happy! Ignore the socks and enjoy life!!

No more hair scare!! So I've started to NOT hate my haircut so much. (Aside from a comment about me looking like a boy the other day at work..it's been good.) And I try not to point out what all I hate about and where the hair dresser screwed up. I wanted it like Rachel Leigh Cook in Scorched, and that's really what I got, I just need to play with it more to get it to do that! I am so used to my hair just falling to the side of my head, that I'm not aware it can do anything else! So it is time for expirimenting!! YAY! But, I've been enjoying it more, and it hasn't been nearly as horrible as I thought at first. Granted it has been over 2 weeks, and my hair has already grown tons. my bangs are already over my eyes. I have decided not to hate it, this is the length I usually get it cut to, and it's cute if I flat iron it. The holidays should be interesting, thank goodness all I have to do it comb it and shake it up sidedown and we're good to go!! :) I sure am glad it's cut, I couldn't stand it long anymore!

Love, bry and mark