i am not in any need of shoes. but these are beauts!

This past week has been full of so much family and fun.
Before we left Idaho Garrett and I had a little Christmas together and exchanged presents.
We decided that if we are ever going to give gifts, then they have to be home made.
So I made a cork board map to keep track of our travels together for Garrett and he made a new treasure box for me.
(many do not know, but i have multiple little treasure boxes full of things that i love.)
please excuse the crappy cell phone photos.

Christmas eve Garrett took me to Candy Cane lane to see the lights.
(I LOVE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!)

Why has no one ever introduced me to Freaks and Geeks?!?
I cant stop watching.
I mean,
James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and Linda Cardellini from Good Burger.
Where was I in 1999 and why was I not watching this show?

finals are done.

if i had $475 i would buy him:

so i do this thing recently (the past year) where 5 minutes into a movie i pass out.
i dont know why.
i could be wide awake,
it could be 2 o'clock in the afternoon,
i could have just woken up from a nap,
and no matter what
i almost always fall asleep.
Like i mentioned before, during Thanksgiving break we watched all of the Lord of the Rings movies.
( i have a hard time sitting still and these movies are loooong.)
that was in preparation to see the Hobit.
Last night we went to the midnight showing of said Hobit movie which was 169 minutes.
that equals 2 hours and 49 minutes.
and i didnt fall asleep once!
(ignore the fact that i took almost a 3 hour nap right before and made sure to have plenty of caffeinated drink and popcorn on hand.)
i left the theater stoked off of the movie and bragging about the fact that i stayed awake the whole time.
this might be a sign that i am really growing up...
but probably not.

1.Dress 2. Ring 3. Camera 4. Planner 5 Necklace .6.  Gloves 7. Salt Lamp

We had our annual Christmas Party last night.
Im going to go ahead and call it a success...

best month of my life.

I love food.
I do.
Probably way too much.
When im done with lunch, one of the first things i think about is what im going to eat for dinner...
When we got back from all of the wedding stuff Garrett said he wanted to eat a stricter diet.
(not diet like, "i really wanna loose three pounds"(though i have lost 4! ha) watch video if you dont know what im talking about here. kind of diet, but you know, the diet that every one has as in the things you eat.)

Me being the person i am, didn't want to be left out!
So we decided to do it together.
Our "diet" was/is this:

no sugar. no gluten. not meat. no dairy.

I love sweets. I love bread. I dont really eat meat. I didn't realize that I like cheese.
So instead, we have been eating a lot of fruit, salads, beans, and veggies.
I get made fun of every day at work for eating an apple and almonds for lunch and have been the target of treat giving lately. (They're trying to publicly break me.)
Basically, people think we are crazy.
BUT i will say that we have cheated a tad....
Holidays (Thanksgiving we went crazy) and special occasions like the watching of The Muppets Christmas Carol. (You just have to do some things the right way.) And small events here and there.
When we cheat, its usually with sugar. It is my archenemy.
But for the most part we are trying really hard to be good!
(even with my recently constant cravings for Dr. pepper and sour straws)

I am starting to really enjoy this diet and how much better I feel.
We have been able to experiment with different kinds of food, because seriously, you dont realize how often you use certain things like a little bit of butter here and a little bit of cheese there. Or how many things have gluten in them, until you cant have that stuff.

I was blog lovin the other day and stumbled upon Wolf and Willow. For the month of December she's doing this Sexy Sugar Free Vegan Project and posting recipes every day!
I also follow Going Home to Roost and she did the vegan thing and cut out gluten.
(and talked about her wolf and willow's eating habits today on her blog.)
She also posts "dinner ideas" which have some really good things on them.

Basically, what im trying to say is; it is nice to know there are others out there doing some of the same things and posting delicious recipes for the rest of us.
We're not doing anything here that no one has done before. In fact I know tons of people who have these kinds of eating habits.
No, we're not becoming health nuts or anything like that, and we wont force you to eat what we eat.
We're just eating better and feeling better while we do it!
And i will say one more thing.
I dont know if its the incredibly comfortable bed my family got us or the change in our eating habits, but I have been sleeping the best I have ever slept. Seriously.
Like a rock.

Um... so having Family Home Evening with real family is SO much better than the organized groups of random college kids that the school does.
Though our family its just Garrett and I, we have had some (two) of the best FHE's i have ever been apart of.
Luckily, Garrett is really good at just going along with things.
Last week we made paper snow flakes.
This week for FHE we went and got our first Christmas tree and decorations and hung last weeks snow flakes.
(and got some of those cinnamon smelling pine cones. hello wonderful smells all of the time.)

We decorated, drank cider, listened to John Denver & the Muppets Christmas
 and toped the night off with a viewing of Christmas Vacation while gorging on one of those popcorn tins that has the three flavors.
(and Garrett even let me get the tin with puppies on it! I'm telling you, I am a lucky girl.)
I am so thankful for my little family.
(and the fact that its December 6th and there is no snow on the ground. what the what?)

This is going viral
but i love it so much.

This year for Thanksgiving we had it with our friends.
Friendsgiving if you will.
Since we were just home for the wedding, we found it made more sense to stay here than to go home.
And though I sure did miss my family this year, having it with our friends was really great.
We are blessed with really great friends.
Really great.

I also had my very first (that i know of) black friday experience!
Except, we went on thursday... but same thing right?
and though we got a really good deal on a tv, after waiting in multiple lines (even the wrong line once), the big crowds, and the nasty feelings i had going on, i do not plan on experiencing this again.

I know its early in this winter season, but i am already so sick of being inside!
On Saturday i asked Garrett if we could go on a hike to our secret spot.
I knew it would be cold because, duh its late November.
But it didnt even phase me that it would be muddy!
REALLY muddy.
We hiked/slid down the mountain and made it to the water falls.
and though i complained and laughed (because of how ridiculous it really was) and might of gotten uncomfortably close to wetting my pants the whole way down,
the fresh air and seeing the water falls partially frozen but still flowing was worth it.
On the way back we got stuck in the mud trying to go up a wet, slippery hill.
(Maybe even damaged the car...? ugh)
no more hikes until spring.

And we have started watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy in preparation for the Hobbit.
I have never really seen any of these movies so we figured what better time than Thanksgiving break to start them!
Luckily i had lots of popcorn, pie, apple cider, funny friends, and snuggles to get me though the first two movies.
heres to two down and one more to go!

I know, I know.
Before the wedding I couldn't stop talking about how many more days and what not.
And now post wedding, I cant stop looking at all of the photos and thinking about how much fun it all was.
I am so blessed to have such a great family who with out them and all of their help with wedding things, Im pretty sure we would have just eloped to the temple and called it good.
But I am so glad we didn't.
and i am thankful for each and every one of them and all of their work, time, money, and skill that went into making this dinner happen.
it was magical.

not to photo overload you, but here are some of my favorites right now. (i love all of them so my favorites change every time i look at them)
Melanie Meik Photography (soon Smelcer) did such an amazing job!

Doing things the way we wanted to do them was so nice.
small and intimate.
no cutting the cake.
no inviting people we didnt really want there.
no first dance.
no awkward, every one starting at me moments.
it was fantastic.

But I will say that I am still not used to all of this.
and im not talking about the marriage thing.
that part is so so so great.
its the titles.
when i am referring to Garrett i dont know what to call him.
when i say "my husband" for some reason i feel like im bragging.
(because i did get the best one, duh.)
and now when my boss and coworkers call my work phone i get "Mrs. Sherwood please" every time.

i am so blessed.
(see more at http://melaniemeikphotography.blogspot.com/)

deep love happened, finally:

california, 80 degree weather, family, and wedding things; here i come.

its a Mississippi John Hurt kinda day.

    i like this song today.