Disneyland!!!

It's a Small World After All....

Brant and I got to spend a week in Disneyland with his family in June and I had the best time of my life. I haven't been since I turned 16 in Disneyland 10 years ago. SO much had changed and brought back some memories. It was amazing! Most of the photos are out of order but wonderful just the same.

Here we have Peter Pan talking with my nieces and nephews. My youngest nephew got to high-five with Peter. Cool!

Here we have Snow White, Rapunzel and Aurora

Aurora, Cinderella and Rapunzel are my faves ^_^

LaWayne's coworkers kept insisting they needed a photo of her wearing mouse ears so she decided to wear my nieces Princess ears ^_^ I like this set a lot

Just outside the park, or rather between the parks.

Jessie and Woody! When Toy Story 2 came out, and I found out about Jessie and that her name was spelled the same way as mine, I had an instant attachment. I even have a Jessie doll ^_^

My niece modeling her new sunglasses (gift from me).

My nieces and nephews trading pins with a Disney Cast member.

They REALLY got into it ^_^

Breakfast at Ariel's Grotto!
My youngest niece was SO excited. She wore her Cinderella Dress so she could be in of the princesses. I was pretty excited too. I loved watching the princess movies growing up.

2 of my nieces being VERY silly. We were at an eatery at New Orleans Square.

Matterhorn Bob Sled Run!
This was closed when I came with my family 10 years ago. I was SO happy to find it was open this time. It closed a couple days after we arrived at the park but I did get to ride it once during our trip. I loved it but my youngest niece was scared of the Yetti inside the ride. She was the BEST sport throughout the trip because she agreed the ride the scary rides even though she didn't want to.

I HAD to get mouse ears this trip (I got the traditional ears 10 years ago) and they HAD to be pirate ears ^_^

My SIL husband being the goofball he is. Always ready to make us laugh ^_^

LaWayne celebrated her birthday during our trip so we insisted she at least wear this birthday had and get a photo ^_^

Brant and Morrisa

To our delight, Brant and I got to see a show with the Mad Hatter, Alice and Peter Pan. They were playing musical chairs with the children and, of course, being silly and absolutely 'mad' during the game. There was even a Rag Time piano player playing with them. It was just delightful.

Breakfast at the Plaza Inn. It's one of the restaurants that have Characters walking about, meeting guests. I was enthralled to see The Fairy Godmother walking about. I had to get a photo with her.

Addy had to talk to her, being Cinderella herself ^_^
It was adorable!

Eeyore!

Tigger! Two of a pair, wouldn't you say?

The Mad Hatter at Goofy's Kitchen. Another character restaurant. He is probably the BEST Mad Hatter I have ever met. He amazed Addy. I couldn't stop laughing.

The whole Fam Damily

Wearing our bug goggles to see It's Hard to be a Bug

Me and Morrisa about to get on Tower of Terror. I LOVED it.

This is our first day in the park. I couldn't decide what I wanted to see or do first

Sleeping Beauty's Castle (Formerly known as King Stephan's Castle)

We're buying a Townhouse!

Wow. I can't believe I haven't written anything since Thanksgiving! I am really bad at this.

Well, until recently, not much has been going on in our nick-of-the-woods. Brant and I have decided to buy a townhouse! We love the one we picked because:

1) It is brand new

2)It is energystar rated

3) Everything from the studs out is covered and taken care of by HOA

4) We have an end unit

5)It has a 2 car garage

6) 3 Bedrooms

7) A GORGEOUS kitchen

8) Walk-in closet

9) LOFT ^_^

10) 1500 sq ft (vs the 900 sq ft we have now, so room to grow)

I have put several pictures below so you can see what it looks like! I'll post pictures after we've moved in and settled in a bit.

We'll be moving at the end of April or early May. We're hoping for the end of April.

The Master Bedroom

The Exterior Front View

(There is a sliding back door as well, onto a cement pad that we'll have fenced in next year)

The Loft! How COOL is that?!

The Walk-in Closet

The Living Room

The Kitchen and Eating Area (I LOVE this kitchen!)

That bright light on the kitchen floor is light coming through the Sliding Door

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Brant's family. I'm still not accustomed to such large family gatherings, so it feels pretty chaotic to me. When Brant and I got married, I instantly became an Aunt. 3 boys and 3 girls. WOW. Being the oldest, and having only 1 sibling, and cousins similar in age, I'm not used to little kids. The youngest I ever babysat was probably 5 or 6 years old (old enough to be potty trained anyway). So when my youngest niece was potty-training and asked me to help her (all she said was "Jessie... poop!") I was instantly terrified!! I looked to LaWayne (my mother-in-law) and said "what do I do?!" She just laughed and took care of it.

Thanksgiving was so much fun. The kids were having a blast with Brant. They were all outside having a snowball fight and other snow-related activities. I talked with the rest of the fam, met the man one sis-in-law was dating (VERY nice guy, by the way) and I was spoiled by LaWayne. She is the dream mother-in-law. I know most women dread their mother-in-law, or having a mother-in-law, because of that awful stereotype going around. I couldn't be more blessed. It's also new getting used to having sisters. I grew up around mostly boys. Never had a girl cousin to play with. Granted I had my barbie dolls, but I also had ninja turtles, gargoyles, war trolls, and the like. I love them though. They're all so sweet to me.

Now, don't think I'm forgetting my side of the family! I called my family before we arrived at LaWayne's house and spoke with them for a bit. My brother dove down for Thanksgiving break, and I found out my Uncle and recently-arrived home RM cousin were also there! I loved the Thanksgivings when I had my uncle and cousins there. More food and more fun! Anyway, my mom was busy with all the food prep, dad kept asking her questions, my cousin was chatting away with my brother, while my uncle listened and chatted with them. I can't wait to drive down for Christmas. It'll be different in my parents' new place, but where there is love, there is a home. I honestly love their new place (besides the tenant living downstairs) because it's mostly all on one level. My brothers room and all the storage are downstairs.

Being married and on-my-own makes me think back more to the Christmas's when I was a kid, and all the magic that was there. Having nieces and nephews helps renew that magic. That and getting to be the ones sneaking presents around, keeping them guessing and snickering because they can never guess ^_^

I love family holidays. It's a perfect chance to get to know Brant' family, and Brant to get to know mine. I just love it!

My Etsy Shop

My Etsy shop has been doing well lately. My most popular items are my Teddy Bear beanie and Dino Beanie. I'm trying to add things for everyone in the family, but when it comes to men, it's hard to figure out what they will wear. Brant barely wears beanies, and I cannot find or figure out a pattern for a mans head that will lay flat as I expand the base of the beanie. It's hard to explain if you're not familiar with crochet. Anyway, I have figured out some super cute things for kids, and am working on things for adult women. I have all these ideas and not enough time to try them all out! Gah!

Here are several pictures of some popular items and new items:

First we have the Punkie Pom-Pom beanie! Full of spunk and attitude.

Mini Daisy Headbands, simple but sweet

My personal Favorite: The Queen Anne Lace Scarf

Popular Item: Teddy Bear Beanie

Other Popular Favorite: Dino Beanie

NEW ITEM: Honeycomb Newsgirl Hat

NEW ITEM: Honeycomb Beanie

Another personal fave: Flower Ear warmer

My shop is www.jessikireeve.etsy.com for anyone who would like to take a look.

Trying to Catch Up....

I've been awful with the blog lately, I know. Since starting at Gossner Foods, I have been flat-out exhausted. I work 4-midnight, like Brant. Working the same shift helps us save on gas and such.

During this time, I worked my tail off to get ready for the HOPE Festival, and working on my Etsy shop.

The HOPE Festival was SO much better this year. First off, I had better crocheted items, picture books (like a catalog) of things I crocheted, my digital cards and diagrams of all the colors I have available. Everything I crochet is made to order. I figure this allows the purchaser to get exactly what they want. Win-win. ANYWAYS. Back to the HOPE Festival. My two neighbors and I were able to get 3 tables together (in a 'U' shape) in a fantastic spot. We got a LOT of traffic. Granted I only made $68 this year, but that's $68 more than last year. My one neighbor and I decided to do a drawing for one custom-crocheted item (one from each of our shops). We had a LOT of entries. It was great. Here are some pictures of our awesome setup:

As I said, it was a LOT of fun. I had 2 custom orders, and a few people bought some things I had already made. It made me feel much better about my crochet style and ability. Since starting work at Gossners, crocheting is my only creative outlet. It really helps me relax and enjoy myself. I can experiment, try out different colors and materials. This makes for a happy Jessie.

My shop is slowly building up sales, which is fine. I'm trying to adjust to my new work schedule, so slow is kinda good. I'm hoping things pick up since Christmas is coming up. I know,

CHRISTMAS is already here! I can't believe it! However, I am super excited. I can't wait to break out the Christmas decor and go wild! I'm already listening to my Mannheim Steamroller Christmas music. It's instrumental, and a lot of it is more traditional Christmas songs, ones that actually focus on Christ. I don't feel bad listening to it before Thanksgiving because the music keeps my frame of mind in the right place. Being thankful for all my Savior has done for me, as well as being grateful for the people I love in my life, for what I have, what I can do, and what i have been able to accomplish. For example, right now I am extremely grateful for my new job. The work isn't always easy, nor enjoyable, but the pay is greatly appreciated. It's definitely not my dream job, but it's taking care of Brant and I as we strive for financial freedom (of a sort) so we can start putting money back for a car (if one of ours should break down *knock on wood*) or a down-payment for a house.

H.O.P.E Festival and USU SAAVI

Last year I had the opportunity to participate in the University SAAVI (Sexual Abuse & Anti-Violence Info) 1st Annual H.O.P.E. Festival (Healing Outreach Passion Effort). Its an event held in the University Sunburst Lounge where local businesses and artisans sell their goods and donate 25% of their proceeds to CAPSA (Community Abuse Prevention Services Agency).

I wasn't able to sell anything last year because, for one, I didn't have enough time to get things ready and I hadn't done any research into what people like to buy (as far as crocheted items go) nor did I have enough experience in perfecting my patterns.

This year, I was excited to hear the SAAVI office was putting on the HOPE Festival again. My friend (who has a friend in the SAAVI office) told her, so she told me. I'm hoping to contribute more this year.

I'll be selling my crocheted things and my digital cards again. I can't think of anything else to sell.

Oh well, Hopefully I can get a lot more things made to sell, and maybe put together a picture portfolio or something. We'll see.

This link is for last years Festival Info, but explains the details of the event. I'm waiting for this years info to come up.

http://www.usu.edu/saavi/events/hopefestival.cfm

Early Anniversary Present

Our second anniversary is coming up so Brant and I are obviously makes plans to go do something. Well, on Friday, Brant said he was going to make me dinner and that he had a big surprise for me. I was totally clueless as to what the surprise was. I didn't really have any guesses either. Brant went crazy over the fact I wasn't guessing.

Well, when I got home from work, Brant was finishing preparations for dinner. We had fettucine already with chicken, salad and Martinelli's Sparkling Cider. It was SO good. I swear, I want Brant to move to day shifts and do all of our cooking. He's so much better at it than I am.

Now for my surprise: I got to see my surprise when I got home because I had to go upstairs and change out of work clothes. I walked into our bedroom and this is what I saw...

Can I say that I absolutely LOVE my new bedspread!? I've been watching to see if the price would go down at all on this set. Well, Brant said he'd been saving a little at a time to get it for me. It is SO much better than the coverlett we bought when we got married. Now all I have to do is save up for the throw pillows. Yes, the throw pillows. They look really nice. Oh and we need King pillows, lol. That's why the shams look half-filled.
He's the best husband. He notices things I like, helps me with work around the house, makes me dinner and so much more. Love you sweetie!!