Life's Helmet

Sunday, November 29, 2009

A New Tradition

This year we decided to make our Christmas tree experience a little more interesting. In Arizona, they sell tree-cutting permits so you can choose and cut down your own tree during the Christmas season. So yesterday we ventured out to the forest with our friends Melanie and Jared to find our tree. While I wouldn't necessary call our tree the "perfect tree," the experience made it absolutely worth it. I think it's pretty safe to say that we have a new family tradition!

Thanksgiving

Although Ryan and I have been married for 3 years, this year was the first Thanksgiving we'd spent at my parents house. As always, dinner was amazing and we had fun getting to spend the day with family!

Ryan's brother Rob always seems to get stuck with the dishes

Sunday, November 22, 2009

3 Years

It's official - Ryan and I have been married for 3 years! And a crazy 3 years it's been! From graduating from college, moving to AZ, getting "real" jobs, and buying a house, it really does feel like we've grown up together. Ryan - You're a great husband and I couldn't imagine my life without you. What can I say boy, there's just something about you!

I love you Ry!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Dressing Up

While Ryan's niece was in town, we whipped out my old Barbie's for her to play with. After seeing what a large selection of clothing we had for the dolls, we decided to have a contest to see who could dress their Barbie in the cutest outfit.

If you're wondering what happened to their hair, ask my sister Adrienne. I do not take responsibility for their awesome "do's." For those who watch "The Hills," we named our dolls Spencer, Heidi, and Lauren. Can you guess which one was Ryan's?

Wedding Weekend

This weekend, Ryan's family came to town for his brother Steve's wedding. Although we didn't get to spend much time with Steve and his new wife Kristi Kay, we had a ton of fun hanging out with the McFarlane clan!

Kristi Kay has two kids close to the same age as Ryan's nephew and niece

Ryan's brother Rob and his soon-to-be wife

Ryan and I's cheesy temple pic

How can you not love this face?!?

Friday, October 30, 2009

Spooky Supper

Every year, Ryan's mom makes a big Halloween meal. Since getting married, Ryan has insisted that we continue this tradition. Even when I have attempted to substitute some of his mom's dishes for new ones, he has put up a fight. So after 3 years of marriage, I have finally surrendered to the Halloween Hoopla and adopted this meal as "our" tradition as well.

This year we invited a group of friends and family to enjoy the festive meal with us. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of half of the food and all of our guests, but the night turned out perfect. Hopefully next year I'll gorge a little bit less and take a few more pictures. Thanks to everyone who participated in the fun! Happy Halloween!!

Ryan was pretty happy with how the night turned out

A Cheaper Alternative

Those who have been in our house know that one of my favorite stores is West Elm. Although I absolutely love everything in their store, I often have a hard time justifying the prices of their products. When looking through their catalog recently, I saw some wall art that I really liked. Being the cheap person that I am, I decided that I could easily replicate the pictures and make them them more to my liking. So a few days later, I came home with 3 large canvases to begin my latest project. After countless hours of painting, I have developed a newfound respect for artists. I think it's safe to say that I'll be putting away the paint brushes for a while.

West Elm's

Our Project

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Biggest Loser?

Last night, one of our friends told me that I look like a girl off "The Biggest Loser." Considering they're only in their 2nd week on the show, I don't think I can really take that as a compliment. You tell me...is Rebecca my long lost twin?

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Another Year Older

This weekend we celebrated Ryan's 26th birthday. For his gift, our parents and I gave him money so he could buy whatever he wanted. We spent Saturday afternoon shopping and after careful consideration, he decided he wanted a new gun. (There's no doubt that Ryan is ALL "boy.")

Luckily, his birthday fell on Labor Day this year so we were able to spend the day together. To celebrate, we went to the Diamondbacks game with his brothers. Although the D-back lost, it was fun getting to spend the day with family and friends. I hope you had a great birthday Ry!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Home Owner Nazi's

Today marks a momentous occasion as it is the day we received our first HOA violation. When Ryan walked up the stairs to tell me we received a violation, my mind began thinking of what we could have done to get ourselves in trouble. As far as I'm concerned, we're the best residents in the neighborhood - we always pay our outrageous HOA fees on time, we haven't put anything obtrusive in our yard, and we always take our garbage cans in and out on the right days. So take a look at what our wonderful home owner's association had to say...

"The following non-compliance issue with respect to your property was noted on 08/17/2009: All trash containers must be identified by the owner's unit number. Identification stickers will be provided by the Association and attached to the front of the container by the unit owner. Stickers were mailed to you when you received your pool keys. If you did not receive a sticker, please contact AAM."

Not only did we never receive the stickers, but we've never even heard anything about this policy until now. I just can't help but laugh at the thought of someone actually taking the time to notice something so inconsequential and then taking the time to report it.

So today will officially go down in history as the day we received our first HOA violation. And from the looks of it, I'm sure there will be many more to come!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Family Vacation - Part III

Some other highlights of the trip included rafting, hiking, lounging by the fire, and...

The beach at Lake Tahoe

Pony riding

Hanging out with our new niece, Hurley

Thanks again for the great vacation Mom and Dad! We had a blast!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Family Vacation - Part II

One of the days during our family vacation, we decided to go down to San Francisco to spend a day in the city. We started the day off at the Pier and made our way through the city stopping at Ghiradelli's and China Town.

As always, our nephew, Brooklen, got a ton of attention on the streets as he routinely "put on a show" for everyone around. Although the only attention he really cared for was his parents, it was fun watching San Francisco's newest street performer. At one corner, we came across a man who was playing the saxophone. When Brooklen heard the music he started dancing all over the place. When his parents gave him a dollar to give the guy, the man gave the money right back saying that Brooklen was the one who really deserved the money.