more than enough

I've been reading this book, "More Than Enough" by Dave Ramsey (awesome book) and have come across several passages that I've absolutely loved, such as the following:

"I am not a licensed or degreed psychologist, but I believe that traditional Freudian views of psychotherapy have done more to harm our nation’s values than any philosophy to come along in years. The concept of digging in the graveyard of your past to find what caused your faults has some merit when used to identify wounds and heal them, but too often we are taught to blame our lot in life on others. It was our mean, nasty old parents; it was that we weren’t the firstborn; it was our brother who tortured us; it was our sister who got all the attention. Bull! Thousands and thousands of people who had horrible childhoods thrive and even prosper in relationships and wealth. Why do they prosper? Because they made a decision that their fate is up to them, that it is their own personal responsibility.

Albert Schweitzer said it well: Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will, his personal responsibility. Enough whining, I am sick of whining, whining by every special interest group, whining against our upbringing, whining against the mean old boss, whining against your pastor, whining about your spouse – especially if it’s an ex-spouse – just whining. Whining is a sign of a lack of character on your part. If you don’t like the way something is, do something about it. Finger-pointing, blame shifting, and whining, while they appear to have merit, are not doing something. There is tremendous energy in positive activity and in providing a solution. That activity, while it may not solve the problem, moves you from being self-centered to solution-centered. "

I've been around a lot of negativity (don't get me wrong, I'm by no means 100% positive all the time...but I've been making a real effort to be better), and particularly appreciated this bit.

Hope you liked it too :)

this and that.

I had a few holiday/winter pics I've been meaning to share, but never got around to posting, so here's a bit of a jumbled post:

Dad and his bffe Reggie are coaching Matt's parks and rec basketball team and (so far) they are undefeated! Matt is so fun to watch play. He thinks like a seasoned pro, but has just this tiny-guy body! Precious.

One day, I'll take some pics of the business park I work in, just to clarify the next portion of this post:

I don't work in Las Vegas. I mean, technically I do, but once you get into the complex it feels more like...what I assume being back east is like. It kind of reminds me of certain areas in Salt Lake. It's really pretty, all of the buildings are red brick and there are these HUGE trees (not palm trees, actual trees, with leaves that change in fall and everything) everywhere! Now, because the seasons are kind of screwy here (and I mean that in the best way possible: winter is like an occasionally chilly/windy, but mostly pleasant fall, spring is a windy/warm summer, summer is BLAZING hot and fall is just slightly less hot than summer), the leaves on the trees around my building have finally started turning that fall-ish golden/red/orange, and some have even fallen. I'm not sure why I'm so obsessed, but I wanted to share:

Impressive, right?

Some of them remind me of tree stars and I'll have to admit, Land Before Time quotes have been running through my mind more frequently than not, lately.

TABOO!!!

or tuh-boo, as Matt calls it.

While Clayt and Jen were in town we played a friendly (and by friendly, I of course mean violently competitive) round of Taboo. I think the picture speaks volumes, so I'll let your imaginations fill in any blanks, but let's just say it ended with a ONE point difference and a very respectable effort and performance from all players.

SO FAR, this winter, we've had approximately 3 days of legitimately "cold" weather.

On one of these days, I walked out to my car and my dear sweet mother was effectively scraping my windshield...with the opposite end of a garden shovel...

Something VERY similar to this.

So yeah, she was scraping (?) my windshield with the green end of this thing...and it was all I could do to just sit in my frozen car and watch the amazing madness unfold.

Mom. You're a dear. But sometimes, you're insane.

(if you look closely, you can see the three babies being sweet)

Right before Christmas, I got a bit of anxiety ("what if 'so and so' drops something off and I don't have anything for them!?" and what not) and had been wanting to visit the cactus garden so (two birds, one stone) the kids and I headed over to Ethel M and got a few boxes of chocolates (for us and others) and walked around a bit. It really is sooo pretty there. Why it never gets old...I'll never know!

And finally, when I went to see the King's Speech, it happened to be at Green Valley Ranch, and the District was still decorated in all it's holiday glory.

I love, Love, LOVE the holidays. Sad to see them go...

but glad to get back into a routine! :)

Keep on keepin' on

Work will win when wishy washy wishing won't.

~Thomas S. Monson

One day, I will design and build my dream home.

Top to bottom.

Not today. Not tomorrow.

Not even this year, or in 5 years.

But...it will definitely happen.

Favorite Things

I have zero interest in raindrops on roses.

I absolutely abhor everything associated with kittens AND their stupid little whiskers.

I've no appreciation for bright copper kettles;

And even less appreciation for warm woolen mittens (1. their necessity, typically, indicates a cold climate...I hate cold, 2. they're itchy)...

That being said, I thought I'd share a few magnificent things that have entered my life over the past year that I would HATE to have to live without:

1. My Kindle

2. Eyeshadow Primer

3. Dexter

4. Blowdry Lotion

5. Angry Birds

(kidding on that last one. ...kind of)

On the contrary, a few things I currently wish would GO AWAY FOREVER:

1. Apple/i-anything (pad, pod, pack, pinch, puh, puh, puh-lease!!!)

2. Facebook

3. Eggs

4. Birds

5. Lady Antebellum

Yours?...

P.S. Go see this movie:

It lives up to all the hype, and then some.

I promise!

UGLY sweater competition

This year was my first year at my current office. Every year they have an "Ugly Christmas Sweater Day." Last year, there was a "scandal" involving who won the competition, and one of the girls went on and on and on and on (...and I'm not exaggerating) about how she should have been the winner ("it was a popularity contest," "she didn't even have a sweater on," etc, etc).

If you know me, you understand my inability to foster dramatic environments (I don't put up with "Girl B.S.")....but this was so freaking ridiculous, I HAD to encourage it.

I told this girl (the self proclaimed "real winner" of last year's competition) that she'd better "watch out" because I wasn't going to let her win this year either (mwahahaha). I talked up a mean game (Tuttle's are pretty well-known for our smack talk capabilities......though I must say, we can back it up 101% of the time...:P). For a couple of months this went on and I knew I was getting under her skin (petty, but so was her grudge regarding last year's competition).

So, needless to say, the day of the competition came, and I was MORE than prepared:

Obnoxiously large and ridiculous santa earings:

Check.

Nass-assty, itchy Christmas sweater:

Check.

FUGLY over-sweater, furry green Christmas-tree/Santa hat, light up colored Christmas light neckace and JUMBO green Santa pen:

CHECK.

BOOYA!

I didn't get any pics of the competition (...maybe because there was nothing that even remotely resembled competition...) but I will say that I had a TON of fun (smack talking and ugly sweater searching). The sweaters will stay for many future Ugly Christmas Sweater Days (and rightly so), but I DARE you to be that sucka's!

Christmas Eve: Part III

More Christmas Eve Traditions:

Decorating the friggin' cookies

(and I type that with every ounce of 'un'enthusiasm I possess)

(oh, and don't mind my finger on the lens. I'm no photography wizard, ok?!)

Presents!!! :)

Side note: I just love our tree...

Cheeeeeeeeese.

Let the maddness, mayhem and mess commence:

After opening presents, we chatted for a bit, cleaned up, organized, sorted and got things in order for Santa to come later that night. Before Clayt and Jen left tho', we made sure to snap a pic of our gem of a sister in law leaving in this:

Mhm. A onesie.

There are sock-monkey faces on the feet.

Truly priceless. :)

Precious :)

I love Christmas Eve. ...Correction, I LIVE for Christmas Eve. I love every second of it (enh, maybe not the cookie decorating...but tradition is tradition). I appreciate everything we cram into that day (thereby freeing up Christmas Day to actually enjoy Santa and then the true meaning of Christmas) and everyone that I'm able to share it with. This was an awesome year, and I'm really excited for next year (all of us kids back at home and some tweaks to the pizza is an almost guaranteed recipe for perfection!)!

Christmas Eve: Part II

*Gingerbread Competition - Game On!

The crew busy at work...

Focused.

Determined.

Preparing.

(for defeat... :D)

True competitors.

Most of the final products...

CJ's Baby's R Us porta potty

Jess' winter wonder-house

Spencer's octa-oddball of a thing

Jen's Jew-joint

an areal view of the jew-joint

Celeste's Christmas cottage-wanna be

Clayt's yuletide tepee

Matt's holiday-hut

And last, but CERTAINLY NOT LEAST.....

Becca's humble holiday home

The mess.

(which cleans up surprisingly fast with as

many participating slaves as we had!)

*Disclaimer: owner of blog reserves the right to share certain blogged events/details in whatever manner she desires.

Christmas Eve: Part I

The annual home-made Pizza making was done, by and large, by this piece of work:

This is Jen.

She's my sister-in-law.

And she is AWESOME at this pizza-making business!!!

I rest my case.

I really, really, really don't know that I've ever witnessed, first hand, the amount of concentration and determination that intensely oozed from this girl's every pore during the pizza making...

So...yeah. That was a treat.

The stuffed crust pizza!

Cheese

(pun intended)

Clayt and CJ, life long besties! :P

A few of our delicious eats (what's the substance creating that beautiful sheen on the crusts of those pizzas, you ask? Oh. Just a delectable garlic butter sauce, not a big deal.).

All of the boys.

Doing exactly what they do best. :|

Yay!

We've got a few kinks to work out in the pizzas (sauce), but the crusts were infinitely times better (shout out J.R.) that they have been in the past!