We are totally the couple that "waits until after Thanksgiving to put up our tree"
mostly because of my husband.
(I have secretly listened to Justin Beiber's Christmas Album on my i-pod while running for about 2 weeks- NBD)

However this year I insisted we put it up this weekend with Thanksgiving being so late and us leaving out of town in a few days.
(I wanted to enjoy the tree for longer than a few weeks!!!)

We finished decorating late last night while the babe was sleeping.
So this morning I had Aaron go turn on the tree and get it all ready for when Ryan woke up.
I seriously felt like it was Christmas morning.

I got the baby out of bed in his Christmas Jammies,
and we took him down the stairs.

You should have seen his face.
He kept looking at me like he didn't know what to do he was so excited.

In that moment it was magic.
Seriously.
That is what the spirit of Christmas is all about.

I don't think he has stopped staring at the tree all day.

I'm in heaven just seeing his excitement.


Thanksgiving is just around the corner.
One of my very favorite holidays.
(and my birthday just happens to fall on Thanksgiving this year- 
don't worry the last time this happened was when I was 12. 
My parents put candles in the Turkey- Awesome.)

What is better than a lot of food and people you love!? All mixed together in one day of gratitude.

The average American consumes more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day.
SOURCE
That's a lot of food people and A LOT of chubbiness in one day.



A couple tips.

I know it's a Holiday, but trust me, it will SAVE your poor tummy from going into food coma.
We ALWAYS start Thanksgiving morning with a nice and early run and then come back and cook and cook and cook and eat.
(sign up for a turkey trot! Those are SO fun!)
It makes you not feel so guilty for the couple pieces of pie and multiple rolls you will consume.

She is a quite the sweetheart and a really CUTE newlywed.

November makes me so happy.

We should always always always be grateful, and November just reminds us of that.:)

I thought "why not share my ten things on here!?" 

Seriously this list might hit 256 bajillion but these are a few that came to mind in no particular order.

1. My sweet babe for making me a mommy. (seriously stole my little heart!)

2. A loving husband who I completely adore. (and family)

3. Kisses. 

4. Running and a healthy body. 

8. Sunshine. 

9. Disney everything. oh my gosh I love you Walt! 

10. A really good deal at the mall (sometimes I want to cry it makes me that happy)

Today I woke up to 37 degrees!
Yes 37.
I even turned my phone off and then back on to see if it was really reading right.

My husband's alarm went off and I realized that our house was freezing.

We are so good at watching the news and knowing when it's going to randomly freeze one day- #fail

I cuddled up really close to him and put my ice cold toes on his legs 

(it's one of his favorite things I do hahaha)

FYI- my toes are ALWAYS about 3 degrees. Today just put them in the negatives.

I told him not to move and that we were going to stay in bed all day long. haha

That dream was short lived. 

Boo school and law finals that are taking over our life right now.

I went from running in shorts 2 days ago, to pulling out my Utah snow thermals at 7 AM.

I embraced the cold, took a deep breath and saw ONE other person on the running path. 

(I'm just waiting until January when everyone is in "New Year's resolutions mode" for the paths to fill up)

I couldn't help but think while running how grateful I am for a healthy body.

For running and how it makes me feel.

For the crisp fall air that bit at my bones just a little,

and for my sweet sweet little family waiting for me to get home.

Life is so good.

Breakfast, books, bath's, a nap, and a few toys later, baby and I headed out.

We threw on scarfs and beanies and stopped to look at every leaf and pinecone in sight.

Everything is so new and exciting to him.

Totally makes you sit back and appreciate the simple things in life.

I was craving soup so for dinner I made THIS Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe that I posted a couple of weeks ago with bread.

Totally hit the spot.

While I was making dinner this happened (NBD babe it's only every straw in the bag) 

along with the babes erasing my last post on blogger on my phone. 

(I don't even know how this happened! but I looked to find it and it was gone)

I swear this generation of babies is going to take over technology.

**( so sorry if you are trying to pull it up!)

Picture not from today.. but it could be.

They replicated it perfectly.

Thank you "today" for being really simple and just happy.

xoxo

Lets just say that I think Ryan had a little more fun this halloween than he did on the last one.

Deciding what Ryan was going to be for Halloween was a no brainer.

Given his obsession with dogs. (especially our fake Dalmatian Spot)

My MIL (mother-in-law) found the perfect Dalmatian costume online at Pottery Barn Kids.

Ryan usually hates wearing hats and things on his head, but when we put his costume on and put him in front of the mirror, he started panting like a dog and laughing at himself.

Never even tried to take the hat off.

Seriously one day my goal is to be as festive as she is for Halloween.

As soon as Aaron got home from school we headed to Chipotle with our puppy for our 3 dollar meal.

Then trick-or-treating we went.

I chose my favorite candy, because we all know the candy was mostly for Aaron and I haha.

The best part was finding Aaron's radio flyer in his parents garage from the late 80's and whipping that thing out for Ryan.
He ate a couple of dum dum suckers and was as happy as a clam in that wagon.

We ended with trick-or-treating my in-laws which meant take like 3 pounds of licorice and golfish home. (she knows us so well:)
Seriously the best Halloween yet.
We are pretty smitten by this little pup!

I am in love with pizza.

Sometimes I dream about a really good pizza (my obsession is that bad) hahaha

Ask my husband. 

If I could, I would eat it multiple times a week.

Every Friday night is Pizza night at our house.

And it's most definitely my favorite night of the week.

Only usually we don't go out to eat pizza.
(sometimes we do but we usually just make ours at home- we LOVE it, It's cheaper ((yay for grad students)) and healthier:)

I want to introduce you to my beautiful mamma!

My mom is the cutest cook on the planet, and a really good one.

I seriously lucked out as a child.

I grew up eating a super healthy lifestyle, and I'm so grateful to her to teaching me proper nutrition at a young age.

That being said I will give you her famous whole wheat easy pizza dough recipe.

It's SO easy. 

Calls for 5 ingredients!- one being WATER!

Cooks for 7 minutes in the oven and wahlah!

Pizza Dough

Makes 6 crusts or 4 large crusts

I usually half it when I make it for Aaron and I and freeze what dough we don't eat.

6 cups of hot tap water

4 TBSP honey

6 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:

Mix to a paste using mixer, then add:

2 TBSP. saf instant yeast

2 TBSP. salt

Then add 6 MORE cups of flour 1 at a time (12 cups total) until mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  Mix for 10 minutes. Divide in parts and roll out or freeze dough for later use in individual Ziploc bags.

Baking:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Roll crusts to desired shape, add favorite toppings and bake for 7 minutes (if using baking stone)

If using pizza pan add 2-3 minutes to baking time.

We LOVE BBQ chicken pizza so that's our favorite but I also love plain cheese pizza so we will usually do one of each and have lots of leftovers:)

**For our BBQ pizza, I usually just get a rotisserie chicken from "Sams" or "Costco" and de-bone it.

Spread BBQ sauce mixed with a little marinara sauce (it's the trick people!)

and some Mozzarella cheese!

**For the least fat use Mozzarella cheese, rather than cheddar.

There's a healthier DELICIOUS Friday night meal!

I usually combine it with Crystal light lemonade (sometimes we cave and my husband gets rootbeer and I sip his (ha somehow it's better for you if you don't have your own??)) and it's the best "treat" meal for us!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and Happpy Friday!! xo

BY the way. We totally found Aaron's hip Radio Flyer from the late 80's in his parents garage,

and whipped that thing out for Ryan.

It worked like a dream and we had the best Halloween to date. 

Oh my gosh holidays are so fun with kids.