Merry Elfing Christmas!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. If you are interested in elfing yourself, go here
It's too much fun!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Baby, it's cold outside!

It finally feels like Christmas. With 10 days to go until the big holiday, and snow finally on the ground, the festivities are in full swing!  Last night we attended the annual Zarbock Christmas open house, and once again it did NOT disappoint. Those gals really know how to put on a spread. There was eggnog, crepes, cheesecake, chocolate mousse, and fruit with fondue. But my favorite treat, making its debut this year, were the cake balls dipped in chocolate...MMMMM!! I am even planning on making them myself this week. I wish I would have taken a picture of it all because you would be jealous of the delicacies we feasted on. Also in the past week, we attended my work Christmas party at Market Street Grill and on Friday the dance studio I work at had our Christmas recital. One of my little students even brought me roses...Thanks, Krystallyn!

Another way I know the Christmas season is upon us, unfortunately, is the disgusting display of inflatables littering neighborhoods across the valley. I hate those things. I don't even think Clark Griswald would include inflatables in his decor and his house could be seen from space. I'm sure as I am writing this you are either agreeing with me or trying to find some way to justify the 8 ft snowman waving from your front lawn. You might as well just add a couch to your front porch to make the look complete. But since I am feeling the Christmas spirit, please know it's not too late to repent. If you, or someone you love, has wronged your neighbors in this way go out and deflate that inflatable now. Better yet, cut it up and throw it out so you are never tempted to display that snowman again. Oh, and have a Merry Christmas!

Goodbye, Thanksgiving...Hello, Christmas!

There is nothing like going home to the familiar tastes of the Saunders' Thanksgiving feast. I'm sure most of you think your family feast is #1 but you would be wrong. My dad's homemade rolls are the best and store bought pies have no place at our table. If that is the way you celebrate, I'm sorry. It's most likely because you don't know any better or maybe as my brother-in-law constantly reminds us, we ARE food snobs. But I have had Thanksgivings far from home before and although they are memorable (Thanksgiving duck in Taiwan, dinner in Germany at Epcot) they don't quite measure up. One year I even had someone try to serve me corn from a can...the nerve!

Matt and I headed up to Cache Valley on thursday to spend the holiday with my family. After the meal and some pie it was off to the movies. I don't know what it is about going to movies on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it has become a tradition and I love it. We saw "Four Christmases." It was pretty good. A typical Christmas movie but who doesn't love Vince Vaughn? We spent Friday at my sister Nikki's house and another movie, "Australia," followed that evening. I highly recommend this one...a western with action, romance, and Hugh Jackman's abs can't go wrong. The movie also included a little Judy Garland, which for me made it all the more special. I won't tell you more than that...go out and see it yourself. Saturday included more family time and dinner with one of my dearest friends and her husband.

We got back yesterday afternoon and now I am in the process of beautifying the home for Christmas. I got the lights on the balcony up and the tree dancing with lights. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow. Matt doesn't seem to get too excited about this holiday, so it has been all me doing the decorating. But he won't be able to be married to me long before he starts to catch a little bit of Christmas cheer. If I don't have him convinced by 2015, I may have to result to extreme measures.

Pictures from The Pulse

So I Think I Can Dance!!

This past weekend a few of my fellow dance teachers and I attended a dance convention in Vegas, The Pulse. The convention consisted of 2 days of master classes taught by some of the SYTYCD choreographers- Mia Michaels, Tyce D'Orio, Shane Sparks - as well as Cris Judd, Dave Scott and Laurie Ann Gibson. This was quite a treat for me! I love that show and I loved this experience even more. Dance has always been such a big part of my life and I am grateful for any opportunity to continue dancing and taking what I learn back to my own classes as I teach the next generation of dancers.

Bleeding Red

Even though I am a graduate of the University of Utah, I didn't start attending football games regularly (or probably ever) until I met Matt. I've always preferred baseball to football. The warm weather, the atmosphere of a ballpark, the hotdogs, and singing "Take me out to the Ballgame" always suited me much better. I am still a huge baseball fan, but have found a little room in my heart for some football as well. Matt loves football and so being married to him means that I love football. Since Matt is a student we have been able to take advantage of the cheaper MUSS season tickets and attend just about every home game during the past 2 seasons. It's become a fun thing for us to do as a couple and now I look forward to bringing our future children to games. And yes, thanks to the Oregon game I now understand what happens in a 2-point conversion.

Part of the reason for my dislike of football is games in the cold. I hate being cold when I know that I could be in the warm confines of my own house watching the game on tv. So it was with some hesitation that I bundled up, snow pants and all, to attend the TCU game with Matt last Thursday. The game was a blackout game, which means everyone, including the players were wearing black. Matt even bought me a new black beanie and matching scarfs to keep us warm.

Thanks to all my preparation, and the hot cocoa we managed to sneak in, I was quite cozy. And to top it off, the Utes beat TCU to remain undefeated...10-0!

Our "Incredible" Halloween

You know a man loves you when he will don a spandex suit and leave all pride at the door simply because you asked him to. Such was the case of our Halloween costumes this year. I got the idea last year when after only a few months of dating I found Mr. and Mrs. Incredible costumes at 1/3 of the original cost. Matt and I had already been discussing the idea of marriage, but not wanting to get our family and friends too excited we were keeping it all on the down low. So I had good reason to take a chance and buy the costumes a full year in advance to when they would be used. As you can see we made quite the superhero team. And nothing says "take me seriously" like wearing a big pair of granny panties on the outside of your outfit. Thanks Matt, you are the best!

I dressed up for work and won "Best Costume" in my office. The prize you ask??...a gift certificate to Maggie Moo's.  And since ice cream is topped only by water and air when it comes to things I need to survive, I was quite happy with the win. Halloween night we attended a party with some of my fellow dance teachers. All in all we had a fun holiday. Matt is already thinking of ideas for our costumes next year. It may turn out okay but part of me can't help but think he is plotting some kind of revenge for the fun I put him through this year.

I'm blogging, I'm a blogger...I blogged!!

It has been a long time coming but I am happy to announce that I have officially started a blog!! I kept telling myself that I would start once I got married to keep everyone up to date on life as an "us" and 2 months later I am finally achieving that goal. I have actually been working on this for a week or so now, finding a background I was happy with, tweaking all to my specifications. The perfectionist in me wanted it to look just right, though I expect my efforts will not matter seeing how at the end of the day, a blog is a blog is a blog. But on to more important things...

Our new life officially began on August 9, 2008. We had a beautiful ceremony in the Bountiful LDS Temple followed by an evening reception at the Gallivan Center. For those of you who were able to make it..thank you. Official thank you's are coming soon, but according to wedding etiquette I believe I have up to a year to send them all out. I don't plan on waiting that long since it might get confusing soon as to whether you are receiving a Christmas card or a thank you note! For those of you who weren't able to come...boy, did you miss out!! There was dancing, ice cream and fun for all. I wouldn't have changed a thing and I think that is exactly how it should be. Matt and I spent a week in Jamaica (with our own butler!) at a Sandals Resort in Ocho Rios. All inclusive is the way to go...we went scuba diving multiple times, ate more than we should have, visited Dunns River Falls, and lived it up on the beach. I even got Matt to ride a horse. We came home with great memories and a great tan. The memories are still alive in our minds and in pictures but sadly the tan has faded. Our last night Matt arranged a special candlelight dinner on the beach...how romantic! It was a great way to say goodbye to a wonderful week and a great way to say hello to our new life together.


Since the honeymoon we are settling into life. Matt is in his final year of school at the University of Utah, and just started an internship at BlackBottoms cycling wear. I am still working at Keystone Media as a media buyer but looking to spread my wings. Anyone know of any good jobs in the media/public relations/marketing world? We are loving life together and I look forward to keeping you all up date on our "Happily Ever After."

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