A Very Merry Christmas

Every year, Ryan and I rotate spending time with our families during the holidays. This year we spent Christmas with my family here in Arizona. The highlight of the vacation was getting a week off of work to spend time with family.

My sister and her family flew out from Michigan to spend the holidays with my family as well. The week was full of shopping, eating, playing, and shopping and eating some more! Seriously, I think I gained at least 5 pounds in the last week. Although my clothes are a little tighter, the week was a blast and we wish it could've lasted longer!

Spending some quality time with Grandpa and Grandma

This kid has no fears (seriously, he'll climb ANYTHING!)

Feeding the horses

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Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Since Ryan and I trade off spending Christmas with our families each year, we've never felt the need to get our own Christmas tree. This year we decided that since we'll be staying close to home for Christmas, it was the perfect year to get our own tree. For the last two years we've carried on the "real vs. fake" Christmas tree debate. Since Ryan grew up with a fake tree and I grew up with a real one, we both see the benefits of doing it our "own families'" way. 

Being the great husband that he is, Ryan gave in and let us get a real tree this year. Although it's only 3 feet high, it's our very own Charlie Brown Christmas tree and we love it. NOW we can have a Merry Christmas!

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Catching Up

We always look forward to going to Spokane to spend time with old friends. Ryan's friend Lance got married while we were there so Ryan got to spend some quality time with the boys. They had fun hanging out and playing videos games late into the night. We wish we were able to see everyone more often, but it was fun getting to catch up while we were there!

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Holiday Festivities

While in Spokane, we also got to help Ryan's family decorate for Christmas. We turned on the holiday music, whipped out the Christmas decorations, and made an event of it. It's always fun getting to be a part of the McFarlane holiday festivities!

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Keeping Us On Our Toes

One of the highlights of our trip to Spokane was getting to spend time with Ryan's nephew and niece. Riley and Cooper are a total blast and always keep us on our toes. In the week that we were there, I can't even begin to list all of the crazy things they did. Let's just say that every day was new and exciting with them around.

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Doughnuts & Apple Cider

This year we went to Spokane to spend Thanksgiving with Ryan's family. The day after we got there, we traveled several hours to visit Ryan's relatives in a town called Manson. While there, we actually got to help make Ryan's family's famous "apple cider."

We first went to Ryan's great aunt's house where we made homemade doughnuts. Although I'm not a huge doughnut fan, these doughnuts were AMAZING! After we made the doughnuts, we took them over to a big warehouse where we had a huge "cider making party." It was a little messy but it was a total blast. As expected, the cider was the best apple cider I've ever tried. It's times like those that make me really appreciate having married into a family that has so many cool traditions.

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Two Years and Counting...

It's official!! We are now an old married couple. That's right, today is our 2-year anniversary!! Who knew time could fly by so fast!?!? I never would've guessed that I'd end up marrying the guy who I kissed for the first time outside a porta-potty. I'm pretty sure that neither Ryan or I ever would've guessed that our roadtrip fling would've turned into marriage...but I'm sure glad it did! 

What more can I say...I love you Ry and I can't wait for a lifetime of your crazy antics! Just keep in mind that if you can get through these two years with me, you can get through two more, and two more after that! Happy Anniversary!! ;-)

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Federal Criminal

This morning when I was getting ready for work, I was startled by a loud knock at our door. In my experience, a phone call or knock on the door at 6 in the morning is never a good thing. When I answered the door, I was greeted by two U.S. Marshals. I assumed they wanted to ask us something about our neighbors since there's been problems with them in the past...then they asked to talk with Ryan. My stomach just dropped and my mind started racing wondering what kind of trouble Ryan could've gotten in to. 

When Ryan finally came into the room, they said they wanted to talk to him about a case of identity theft. Apparently, the son of a federal judges' identity had been stolen and Ryan was a suspect in the case. They had a whole file on him - including where he worked, lived (obviously), and even a picture of him. Apparently Ryan's phone number was linked to the case. 

To give you some background, Ryan's phone number was issued to him by Intel when he started working there. Since he received the phone, he's recieved numerous calls and texts from all kinds of people including porn sites and car dealerships. 

The Marshals questioned him as to when he got the phone and soon realized that the guy who had the phone before Ryan was who they were actually looking for. 

As much as we don't like being bothered at 6 in the morning, Ryan and I are pretty pleased by this little occurance. Although Ryan being taken away in handcuff's would've made a great picture for our blog, I'm relieved to hear my husband isn't a federal criminal! ;-)

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It's That Time Again!

Today the radio stations began playing Christmas music and we started our Christmas shopping. We are officially in the Christmas spirit. Let the holiday season begin!!

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Halloween

For Halloween this year, we went to our friends Tiffany and James' house for a bbq. Following the bbq, we hit up the Tempe Marketplace to see 'Hoobstank' perform. (I know, we didn't know they were still around either). The best part about the concert was getting to watch people like this:

and this...

and this...

(Tiffany & James)

(Craig & Brittany)

We were pretty lame this year and didn't dress up. But I think it's pretty safe to say that we got some great ideas for next year's costumes. (Yeah, right...)

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State Fair

On Tuesday night, Ryan and I were finally able to go to the AZ State Fair. One of the things that we were looking forward to the most was the greasy fair food! Although we consider ourselves to have a pretty high tolerance for greasy foods, I have to admit that we totally underestimated the effect of fair food on our bodies. After eating a massive egg roll on a stick and a foot-long corn dog, we were pretty much done for. Who knows, maybe next year we'll actually make it to fried desserts! Watch out obesity, here we come!

1 Foot Long Corn Dog + 1 Massive Egg Roll = $16.00
Admission to the Park + Riding 2 Rides = $48.00
A Night at the Fair w/ My Hubby = Priceless

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A Family Weekend

This past weekend, Ryan's parents came into town to visit. Now that we're done with school and have "real" jobs, we don't get the opportunity to see them nearly as often as we'd like. It's especially fun having them in town since two of Ryan's brothers live down here in AZ as well.

It was fun getting to hang out and eat Ryan's moms' AMAZING food. Every year she makes a Halloween dinner centered around a great dish called "Dinner In A Pumpkin." My family seemed to especially enjoy the jello that looked like a brain and breadsticks that looked like fingers. Thanks for the fun weekend Dan and Mary!

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Trip To Michigan

This last weekend I was able to go and visit my sister Adrienne in Michigan. Her husband was out of town on a hunting trip so we were able to spend a little quality time together. While there, we did some shopping, eating, and just basically hung out. The trip was a blast and went by WAY too quick.

On Sunday morning Adrienne had to leave for a while and left me with her son, Brooklen. When we were playing with a ball, Brooklen was running after it and tripped with his face falling right into the corner of a wall. The fall ended up splitting open his lip. It didn't look that bad from far away, but up close the cut looked pretty deep. Later that afternoon we ended up taking him to the hospital to get 2 stitches. Of course, I felt horrible. To all those people who are always asking me why we haven't had kids yet - I think it's pretty self explanatory.

Despite our little "mishap," the trip was a total blast! It was great to be able to take a vacation and spend a little 1-on-1 time with my sister. Thanks for the great trip Adrienne!

He loved the numbing solution they had us put on his lips

When mom whips out her mop, so does Brooklen

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Kicking Off the Holiday Season

Ryan and I both agree that October through December is the best time of the year. We love celebrating all of the holidays in any way that we can. This year, to kick off the Halloween season, we decided to have a night of pumpkin carving. As you can see in the picture, we're a little rusty. If it weren't for Ryan and his excellent carving skills, it would've been A LOT worse. Thanks to Lara and John for kicking off the holiday season with us.

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Our Latest Project

It's been a while since we last posted because our free time the last couple of weeks has been completely consumed by our latest project. We decided it was time to turn our extra bedroom into an actual "guest bedroom." Most of you probably already know that we are totally cheap and look for deals on absolutely everything we buy. Rather than buying a brand new bed, we decided we would buy a bed frame off of Craigslist and just refinish it.

In the first picture below you can see the "before" picture from Craigslist and in the second picture you can see our completed bed. $150 bedframe and 30 hours of work later, I think it's pretty safe to say that we will NEVER do a project like that again.

Before

After

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Boys & Girls Weekend

This weekend Ryan went up to the "Roundup" with my Dad and little brother, Hunter. The boys had a fun time wrestling the calves down so they could be branded and castrated. Although Ryan came back sunburned and tired, he's already counting down the days until the next time he gets to play "cowboy."

While Ryan was away, I got to have a night out with the girls. It was so fun getting to catch up with everyone! Of the 7 friends at dinner - 5 are married, 2 are pregnant, 2 have graduated from college, and 2 just bought homes. Talk about a change from 4 and half years ago when we were graduating from high school. It's amazing how we can go so long without seeing each other, but when we finally get together, we're able to pick-up right where we left off. It really makes you appreciate having good friends!

Look how far we've come:

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All In A Day's Work

Last week Ryan went on a business trip to Santa Clara. He spent the first two days in long meetings and the third day at sea. On Thursday, his group spent the day deep sea fishing on the San Fransisco Bay. Ryan was able to fish by Alcatraz and under the Bay Bridge. His proudest moment was when the group caught a leopard shark! Once again, it was weird being without him but I'm glad he had a blast!

The Intel Gang

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