Thanksgiving 2012!

Okay, so how about Thanksgiving 2012. I thought the fam would enjoy being a little embarrassed!

So for Thanksgiving we usual do something to embarrass ourselves and this year it was 2 different games.  Luckily Scott and Andrew had something strange growing from their upper lips, so it the rest of us had an unfair advantage before the games even began!  

We played a crazy game of Charades-Clue.  Where you have to act out who did it, with what and where.  There were at least two pretty epic moments.  First, Dolly and Rochelle had to act out, if I remember right, who did it, and this is their version of Dolly Parton!  So funny!

The second funniest moment of the game was when the weapon happened to be a pair of pantyhose.  HIL-AIR-E-OUS!  Funniest part was that Brian and Andrew could imitate putting on pantyhose better than I think I can actually do it! 

So the next game was the zoom game.  In this game you have to send a zoom around the room.  The catch, you can’t show your teeth.  Our lips and cheeks hurt so bad. 

Oh just check out the mustaches! Zoom in if you can!

We aren’t huge into Black Friday shopping, but we did take it as a chance to spend time together. 

At Red Lobster!

Hanging with the Laing Family

Thinking we are beautiful!

And of course helping with some home improvement.  I helped Brian put up this accent rock wall that goes behind their TV.  It was fun to learn how to do something new!

All in all, it was so good to see the family!  I’ve missed them and I’m so glad that they are the people they are.  Each of them bring a different dimension to my life and they all bring such different experiences and advise that I always have someone to go to!  I am so blessed to have them!  The Lord sure knows what he’s doing!

Here A Little There A Little

 Well, life here in Spokane has mostly settled into regular life.  It has been nice in its own way to live in a bigger city because there are so many things that a city offers that we don't get out in the country.  So here's a lil' break down of the last couple of months.

The temple and the changing leaves!

Could it get any scarier?  Yes, I went as Maleficent for the Single's Halloween party.  I threw it together in like an hour.  Spray painted tin foil horns, awful, greasy makeup, oh and my cape, why yes that is a fitted sheet! :)  It was pretty epic, when I walked fast the shoulders would puff  all up, my roommate Holly (left) laughed so hard I thought we wouldn't be able to leave the house!  Needless to say, no takers for this single lady that night! :)

This is Lori, whom you've met.  My roomie.  We went to dinner and I think she's pretty great, so I decided on this picture just to show ya.

Emily, Carley, Kiera, Lara, Kelly, me and Lori at PF Changs.

We get a little crazy!  Do I have that affect on people or what?

We just had so much fun! Lots of pictures!  It was Carley's b-day, so we thought we'd party it up!

So almost every Sunday we rotate on cooking dinner for each other.  There is my apartment, Lauriann and her roomies and then these crazy boys, BJ Duke, Collin, and Mike.  It is a lot of fun.  I've been very fortunate with friends!  Its always a party.

OK, so you can't get this close to Canada without having a HOCKEY team!  Oh ya baby, the Spokane Chiefs!  It was a blast I look forward to going again.

No fighting here.

Big fight, but unfortunately the refs broke it up pretty quick! :)

Drew's lips, Kelly, Crystal, me and Emily!

We won!

OK, so I can't explain the whole story behind this in one post, but I can give ya a brief synopsis.  So that in Lauriann's hand is a cheesecake!  Now I will explain the look on her face.  So about 2 months ago a co-worker gave that cheescake to me.  It was delicious, but I thought it would be better if someone else ate it, so I kindly left it at Lauriann's house. Well, apparently, she thought the same because it ended up on my doorstep the next morning!  Well that began the commonly known cheesecake war of 2012.  So since that fateful morning that cheesecake has been cleverly placed in a bed, in a car and the best yet, I snuck into their house and put it in Lauriann's bag she was packing for the weekend, so it's also been from the top of the state to the bottom, THEN mailed back to me and finally given back to Lauriann by a very kind waiter at a busy restaurant!  She said she is still plotting my downfall.  So I guess the great war is not over yet! :)

Last Saturday they had a regional single's activity- The Turkey Bowl.  We played flag football!  It was pretty awesome!  I look almost coordinated in the picture!

Here are all the people that turned out to it!! 

My ward made up the bulk of people there!!!!  I love my ward!  I have been so blessed with good friends and influences!

And boy are we silly!

Well, that is it for now!  Tomorrow I get to go back to my beloved Utah!!!!!!!!!!  I am so excited to see my family and spend time there!  I wish it could be for longer, but alas, vacation days have not kicked in yet!  :)  Yay for the holidays!

And So, I Fell In Love

Okay, only a month and a half later!  Over Labor Day weekend, Lauriann and I decided we would take a little trip over to the West Side!!!  So, we all know that Alycen isn't much of a city girl.  The first week or so I was in Spokane I had to leave the city and get out into the country because I felt so claustrophobic and Spokane is only the size of the Salt Lake valley, so not huge.  Seattle has, oh a couple million people, but I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!  It was city, so not quite as slow as laid back country life, but it was not as fast paced as other cities I've been to and I liked it a lot.  I grinned ear to ear the whole weekend!  I found this little vintage store that would have taken all of my money for sure if I'd had any to give!!  (Have I ever mentioned how much I love vintage?  LOVE IT!!!) It was so much fun!

 So as soon as we got to Seattle we met up with this beautiful girl, (far left) Mindy!  We stayed with her while there and she was SOOO sweet!  Luckily her husband and baby let us steal her for a few hours to go to a Mariner's baseball game as Safeco Field.   It was fun.  Unfortunately the Mariner's lost to the Angels, but it was fun anyway. 

 We got hot dogs and there in the corner, you can see the remenants of Garlic Fries.  They were too good to even stick around for pictures.  They just douse it in garlic butter, but the garlic is still in chunks!  It was soooo good!

 

PIKE'S PLACE MARKET!

 When I was in high school, we watch a movie about the Pike's Place fish company.  I don't know if you've seen it, but this video talks about work satisfaction and that it really is possible to be satisfied with whatever line of work you are in if you can have fun while you're doing it.

 So here at Pike's Place Fish Co.  they throw the fish to each other!   And they all shout when someone orders!  It really does look fun to work there.  They drew a large crowd.  

Bucket list: Pike's Market- CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 We snacked at a little french bakery.  This was all that remained of my fresh raspberry croissant and it was DELICIOUS!!!!

 Then of course, If you're going to be tourists, be tourists!  So we went to the Space Needle!  It was super cool!

 Here we're just about to go inside!

 The top of the needle!!!!!!!!

 A view of Seattle from the needle!   Yes, I know you don't believe that is a clear blue sky, but we picked the best weekend to go because it was sunny the whole weekend!   Beautiful!

 Another view.

 So we bought the ticket for the Space Needle that also let us into this incredible glass blowing exibit!  Unfortunately this is when my battery started to die, so I didn't get as many pictures as I would have hoped, but you'll get the idea!  

The entire ceiling of one room was covered in these crazy glass pieces.  It was beautiful!

Once through, this is the site that greeted us!  This was also the ceiling of what looked like a ballroom.  It made me feel like I was in the movie Sabrina.  Very elegant!  Felt like it would be the perfect place for an outside ball!

 After the Space Needle, we headed back to the pier.  The sunset was beautfiul! (Everything was beautiful in Seattle! :))

 Clam Chowder and sourdough!  Yumm!

 Just a view from the pier.  The Ferris wheel is brand new!  It was huge (obviously)!

 Then, of course, a visit to the temple on our way out of town Monday.  (Do we look like we tried to coordinate outfits?  We're so complimentary! :))

Just in the temple gardens before heading out!   

I was very impressed with Seattle and hope to be able to one day afford all of the little trinkets and decorations in that vintage shop! Oh, yeah, and visit Seattle for all it's other reasons!!  :) I'm very lucky to be where I am in life.  Live it to its fullest right?  :)  

Where to next people?  What's your favorite city or adventure?