More Christmas 2k13 Celebrations

The rest of our Christmas celebrations I am going to lump together...

It is too much to try to sort out!

Every year, the Riding's make gingerbread houses. These are no ordinary gingerbread houses though, they take them seriously. Normally, Brad and Dan are there most of the even literally 

C A R V I N G faces or last details into their creations!

This year, Michael and I attempted something no one has ever done before...

I  A M   S U R E   S O M E O N E  H A S . . .  B U T   I T ' S   F I N E . . .

The Emerald City

Basically every year it turns into Michael just telling  me how to create it and him redoing what I do. It is actually a pretty great system! One year I will do it right, but for now this is how it works!

Jayme came into town for the Holidays, so we have been trying to spend as much time with my family as possible.

Jayme had made plans with Michelle to craft, so the Monday before Christmas, we headed down to Payson to craft/A K A   P L A Y   W I T H   B E N J A M I N/ visit with Michelle.

 I spent most of my time in the ball pit with this little man.

While we were in there, he decided my new name is Cookie.

I have always wanted a nickname, so I find it absolutely adorable! 

This little man sure does know how to make someone feel special, that is for sure!

I mean come on!

Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks!

C H E E S E R !

I will post the rest in another post... Tonight I am too exhausted.

X O X

High School Romance

The title to this post is definitely deceiving. 

This isn't about  H I G H   S C H O O L   R O M A N C E , but more about where they blossomed.

Michael and I spent December 20, 2013 at the water towers in Orem. 

In high school, this was the place to go.

It was prime for 

H E A R T   2   H E A R T S, 

D A N C E   P A R T I E S,

S T A R   G A Z I N G,

&

M A K I N G   O U T.

(s o   i ' m   t o l d . )

December 20, 2013 overruled any memory ever previously made there.

We just drove up there and listened to music I thought I hated, and just talked.

I know, so silly that it meant so much to me to T A L K when we are M A R R I E D.

I do find, however, that our lives are always going so many different directions that stress free talks rarely happen.

Nothing crazy amazing happened.

No U F O .

No P A R T I E S.

Not even S T A R   G A Z I N G.

Just a good old fashioned 

H E A R T  2   H E A R T.

This memory will never be washed away.

Christmas Blues

This Christmas, I was honestly not feeling the Christmas spirit all too well...

I was so excited to be heading to Orem to see my family, and from the minute we walked in the door, I was picked on and teased by everyone except my Mother and Michael.

Being the youngest of 6 kids, one would think I would be used to this.

One would be partially right, but not with the all the ups and downs going on in my life. I was just looking forward to some quality time with my family!

I held up pretty well, but after one particularly upsetting evening, I ran off to our bedroom to try to calm myself. Naturally, Michael came up to see how I was doing. 

He was having a hard time cheering me up.

I   W A S   R E A D Y   T O   D R I V E   A L L   T H E    W A Y   B A C K   T O   O G D E N!

I left him to go blow my nose in the bathroom and when I came back...

T H I S

Michael dressed in my clothes, pretending to be pregnant. 

 If he knew I was sharing this on here, I don't think he would be too happy, but these are moments when I love him most. He knows exactly what I need, when I need it and is willing to do whatever it takes. This single gesture turned my C H R I S T M A S   B L U E S into 

C H R I S T M A S   C H E E R S!

I am so grateful for this man!

S H H H . . .    D O N ' T   T E L L   M I C H A E L !

X O X

a lil bit a blonde

 Sometimes when growing out your hair, you need a change.

Lucky for me I have the most amazing hairstylist out there!

K A R A   ( K O C H E R H A N S )   W A D S W O R T H !

Seriously, I would trust this girl to do anything with my hair... and I do!

These pictures are kind of hard to see the change, but it has lightened up so much! 

She put some blonde highlights in it and Michael and I absolutely love it!

Thank goodness for best friends with talents!

X O X

Birthday Bash - - Antique Acquiring - - Frank Fun.

B I R T H D A Y   B A S H

Today was sweet, perfect, wonderful, gorgeous Livi's 

1 S T    B I R T H D A Y!

It blows my mind how a pregnancy can seem so long, yet her first year of life went so quick!

Yes, I am talking like she is my own child.

Yes, she has zero blood relation to me.

B U T

I love her like she is!

We got her a Minky Blanket.

May I just say it is seriously the softest/cutest blanket 

I may have ever seen!

Jill put together the cutest collection of pictures on a 

DVD for us all to watch!

Then... C A K E !

 Liv seriously loved it and was kind enough to share it with me!

I look bugged but it was the highlight of my day!

A N T I Q U E   A C Q U I R I N G

Lucky for me, Ciarah was kind enough to tag along to the B I R T H D A Y   B A S H!

After, we decided to walk all along 25th street in Ogden.

It seriously may be the cutest little street with some pretty cool stores!

We found some rad things including this suitcase which I will use for my Temple stuff!

Finally a bag that will fit everything! 

H I P   H I P   H O O R A Y!

F R A N K   F U N

Okay so Frank wasn't all that fun, but it was about the only word that started with an "F" that I could think of that would work!

Frank seriously took such a liking to CC! 

He wouldn't leave her side!

When she did leave, he sat at the door and whimpered for a good 

F I V E   M I N U T E S !

He definitely knows a good thing when he has it! 

Basically they are best friends!

X O X

Christmas Village

What awesome friends I have! 

This weekend I was so fortunate to have the most amazing Ciarah Cook visit us all the way up here in Ogden! 

I seriously felt so honored that she made the trek!

She arrived on Friday night.

We ate dinner.

Talked about life.

And spent an extremely enjoyable evening at the most amazing Christmas village Ogden puts on every year! It seriously is more decked out then Temple Square, I swear!

It was definitely worth the braving the freezing temperatures!

W E   W E R E    A L L   B L O W N   A W A Y!

Prepare for a picture overload!

 They had these cute little buildings that you could look inside and see a Christmas scene! Some of them had themes, while others just made you want to grab a cup of wassil and curl up by the fire listening to Christmas music with no other lighting than the Tree! 

(C A N ' T   Y O U   J U S T   P I C T U R E   I T ? )

 We were literally walking in a 

" W I N T E R   W O N D E R L A N D ! "

What an amazing place to live! 

We seriously are so impressed with how serious Ogden takes their Holidays! 

We can't wait for more!

X O X

Olivia Garlick!

This little girl right here seriously has stolen our hearts!

Meet Olivia. She is the daughter Michael & Jill Garlick. 

My love and I have already have accepted that our children wont even come close to her beauty!

A N Y W A Y . . . This gorgeous little girl is turning O N E tomorrow! 

It so so crazy how quickly this year has gone with this little girl! 

We are so happy for this little family and feel so fortunate so call them best friends!

Congrats little Olivia!

Auntie Katie and Uncle Mikey love you so much! 

Soon to be Mr. & Mrs!

My big brother Beans is getting married you guys!

We couldn't be happier for his couple! 

We were so fortunate to be able to hang out with them!

Congrats you guys! 

We love you so much!

X O X

life comes at you fast

Have you ever notice how fast life can change? 

Michael and I were seriously just talking about how quickly your life can turn upside down!

One second you can be walking down the streets of New York City,

and the next waking up in the hospital because a rogue cab driver ran you over, completely amputating your leg!

(T H A T   W A S   O N   T H E   N E W S !)

Recently, I lost my job.

Or quit.

I'm not quite sure what happened actually!

I woke up one day fully intending to go to work, ended up spending most of my morning with my head over the... You get the idea...

And a second later I was jobless. 

No need for pity however.

I think it was what was best for me, and my family.

I do feel terrible for leaving behind a boss I care so deeply for, and kids who will always have special places in my heart, but I haven't slept this good in over a year!

I woke up the day after I was fired/quit, and made dinner!

I haven't W A N T E D  to voluntarily make dinner for my love in so long!

I wanted to clean the house, I wanted to be waiting with open arms for my love as he came in the door from work!

Maybe that is a bit too dramatic, but I feel like an entirely new person! 

You seriously never know when something drastic is going to change. 

Sure we are financially stressed.

Sure I don't have a job.

Sure Michael is quitting his job to attend school in January.

Sure he doesn't have another job yet.

Absolutely am I worried about how we are going to live, but I know the Lord has a plan. 

I trust that he will provide a way for us, and I cannot wait to see whichever way he provides!

So thumbs up to the unknown!

Thumbs up to being a homemaker!

Thumbs up to being stress free!

Thumbs up to trusting in the Lord!

P R O V E R B S  3 : 5 - 6

X O X

Christmas Cheer!

Holy cow! Can you believe Christmas is so near!

It is seriously so unreal how quickly this past year as gone by!

Michael and I weren't able to get out a Christmas card last year, so we really wanted to be sure to get one out this year. I would post it, but we don't have it yet! 

So.... Here is a sample of our little shoot we did in the basement of my parent's house.

Yeah... We're T H A T legit!

Recently, I took everything off the Christmas tree and started over. 

I've had a lot of free time on my hands, and this was one of the things on my list I finally got around to doing! 

We also have some gifts under that tree!

I recently lost my job, so to save a teeny tiny bit of money, we decided to use paper shopping bags for gift wrap.... Cute I know!

They actually look pretty good! I may have to do this every year! 

X O X

Mr. & Mrs. Wadsworth

Oh goodness deary me! 

One of my bestest friends in the world just got H I T C H E D !

T I E D   T H E   K N O T !

Gained the old  B A L L & C H A I N !

It was seriously one of the most beautiful occasions!

I was fortunate enough to be a part of the wedding party as a (F A K E) bridesmaid.

The night before the wedding, they hosted a dinner for those close to them.

She asked us to sing a song for her.

This particular song is one that Ciarah wrote!

She is seriously so talented! 

Unfortunately, I can't get the video to upload, so that is that!

While we were at the dinner, we met S T E P H E N

from S T E P H E N ' S   H O T   C H O C O L A T E !

Seriously we were all so starstruck!

Psst... That's him!⇣

The next day was absolutely beautiful!

We got up early and went up to Salt Lake City to watch 

Kara and Michael be sealed for time and A L L   E T E R N I T Y !

Their sealing was truly beautiful.

I will never forget what was said there, and the emotions shared!

 I didn't get a picture with Kara outside the Temple, so here is one of Ciarah and Kara!

The other picture is the center pieces we put together at her reception!

Kara seriously thought out every detail to this gorgeous reception!

I was lucky enough to have my love join me for the evening!

We struggle getting a picture together... It's fine.

X O X

giving thanks 2k13

So many things to be grateful for! 

1. Michael Linley

2. Frank

3. My E N T I R E   family

What are you thankful for this year?

In the morning, Michael was able to play tackle football with his family.

That' right... T A C K L E   F O O T B A L L!

Needless to say they were extremely sore the rest of the the vacation!

Frank and I watched from the sidelines for a while!

After getting ready, we headed to Michael's parents house for dinner,

then off to my Grandparents for dessert and Bunco!

Bunco turned out to be so much fun! 

We played for seriously so long! 

Unfortunately, I tied for second to last!

The next day we took family pictures with Michael's family!

We are crazy people who honestly consider their pets as part of the family, so Frank obviously had to participate!

Then, it was off to the mountain to find ourselves a Christmas tree!

We took frank this year for the first time!

He loved it so much, but got so cold we had to wrap him up!

We found our tree in a matter of seconds!

We knew we waned just a little tree for our tiny apartment, 

and this was the first one Michael laid his eyes on!

It didn't take Frank long to warm up to having the Christmas tree in our home! 

Within minutes of having it all decked out, he was snuggled underneath on the tree skirt!

Such a funny dog!

It isn't perfect, but it is just what we wanted!

X O X

greaat! great! great!

We have officially started getting into the Weber State way of life! Last night we attended the Weber vs. Utah State game! Although we lost, we had such a fun time! We are so blessed to have the Garlicks to do things with! 

Seriously I don't know what I would do 

without this amazing lady!

Once the game got a little boring, we livened it up by getting really R E A L L Y  into the game! 

... Unfortunately Weber lost! 

We were really distraught!

Oh and Michael was there too. 

We love living up here in Ogden and look forward to our time here!

X O X