Christmas!

It has been a never ending party since we arrived to SNOW in Las Vegas. It’s ironic that it hasn’t snowed like this in Las Vegas in my life time, until I moved to one of the coldest places in the US!

My mom hosted our extended family Christmas Party this year. Her house is so festive you can’t help but feel the Christmas spirit. Katee and I were in charge of the tables, they turned out fabulous if I do say so myself!

Brandon and my dad grilled up an amazing meal, and we had a fire pit with a “s’mores bar”.

We had an early Christmas dinner and did presents with Chris and Kara and our nieces Taylor and Lauren since they were going out of town.

My dad took us to Lawry’s for Christmas Eve. The decorations, Christmas carolers and food were fabulous.

At least half of Brandon’s gifts had to do with Michigan State…

And we have stayed up all night playing Wii and Rock Band every night since Christmas….

I Need to Focus

We’re leaving in a few days to go for home for Christmas for 3 whole weeks! This means I need to scrub my house (I refuse to come home to a messy house when we go on vacation), do all of our laundry, pack for three weeks, and get caught up on my work all why Brandon is taking his finals. So what do I do last night? Something listed above you would think. No, I made a Christmas card I had absolutely no intention of sending to anyone. Luckily for me, my time wasn’t completely wasted; I have this handy blog to post it on!

Merry Christmas!

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It's a Small World

Last Friday in the men’s shoe department at Nordstrom in the Fashion Show Mall, a guy named Michael was helping my dad try on overpriced Italian leather loafers. I asked him if he had any shoes for MI, because when we were at the Silver Bells parade Brandon said the only part of him that was cold were his feet. He asked me where we lived in MI, and when I told him Lansing he said, are you a Brian Hoyer hater?

What!? How does random Michael with a purple pocket square at Nordstrom in Las Vegas know I wrote a letter to Brain Hoyer politely suggesting he find another career path?

So he explains that he had some customers a few weeks back from Lansing that hated Hoyer, and apparently it’s pretty common. Random Michael went to High School with Hoyer AND played football with him. He said he’d be sure to tell Hoyer he met another hater next time he talked to him. I told him to please wish him well in his future endeavors; he is a 5th year senior after all. What a small world!

Well Hoyer, lucky for you, you have one last chance to impress us all. Michigan State is going to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, FL on New Years Day! Good luck guys!

Thanksgiving and Other Good Stuff

We are so grateful for my parent’s generosity so that we could come home for Thanksgiving! My sister came home from BYU as well and it was crazy and busy and loud with all 7 of us at my parent’s house, just how I like it. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Focusing on gratitude and food...what's not to love? We spent the day with Brandon’s side of the family in Mesquite and for some reason I only took one picture, it was raining so my hair is weird and flat, and basically it's not getting posted.

In other exciting news, no one will ever guess who we saw while shopping at The District last week. Drum roll please…Stephanie Pratt! She had the same blank stare on her face that she has 90% of the time. If you don’t know who Stephanie Pratt is, you seriously need to devote some time to watching one of MTV’s finest, and one of my favorite “reality” shows, The Hills. I’m also eagerly anticipating the arrival of another fine MTV creation, The City starring one of my favorite Hills gals Whitney Port. Following The City we have the pleasure of watching Brody Jenner in his new series Bromance. Yay!

This week we spent most of our time decorating for Christmas. I love decorating and I couldn’t take all of my Christmas stuff to MI so I’ve been living vicariously though my mom’s decorations. My little sis Kenzie and I have done the “fancy tree” for past few years and we did it again this year. It’s hilarious because we’re both completely indecisive and 5 feet tall. We ask each other where we should hang things, move them around a bunch and almost die standing on the very top of the ladder and on the edge of the window sill. Here’s the final result…

On Sunday we had our “all girl” McPherson Family Christmas party with all of my aunts and cousins on my mom’s side of the family. This year it was in St. George at my Granddaddy’s house. Every one brought an appetizer and dessert. We do a gift exchange and eat and chat, so fun!

This is getting long, but I discovered a few great things I have to share. Starbucks has a delicious new beverage, Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate. This sweet and salty combination brings together rich, indulgent Signature Hot Chocolate and the flavors of buttery caramel and smoked sea salt. It is topped with whipped cream, a swirl of caramel and a sprinkle of our sea salt topping - a combination of artisan sea salt and Turbinado sugar from Hawaii. (Don’t worry; I didn’t write that description myself, I stole it from the website.)

And last but certainly not least, my new favorite product is The Present by Philosophy. It’s a clear makeup skin perfector for day and night. Look like you have perfect skin, even if you don't. You should try it, great stuff.

A Shout Out to Blogging Moms...

My sister is getting her masters at BYU and is part of a team researching young mothers and blogging behavior. I think it's fascinating how blogs affect people, their self esteem and how they view others vs. themselves. So, I need your help! The email she sent me along with the link is below. I'll try to post her findings once the study is complete.

This survey is part of a study being conducted by Brigham Young University. We are studying young mothers and blogging behavior. This study has been approved be the university. All you have to do is click on this link: https://byu.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_9yi8C8VkcG7rgNu&SVID=Prod take the survey and at the end, enter your email address if you would like to be entered in a drawing for one of five $100 Target gift cards just in time for Christmas shopping. We appreciate your participation and support of our research.

Thanks,
Communications Research Team