I'm dreaming of a White....

Oh, wait! It doesn't look like I'm going to have to dream about it! It's been snowing quite a bit in the last couple of weeks, and it's snowing as I write this! It's looking very likely that we will have a white christmas this year!
So, it's time to update people! Caleb's toe is doing better. Still a little tender, but it's not black and blue, or swollen anymore! We have been crazy busy trying to get Christmas together. With little money, we have been able to think a lot more about why we love Christmas. Yes, gifts are nice, and being able to spoil people you usually can't is always a plus. But really, our favorite part of Christmas is being able to see our families. We get to spend time with most of the Ellison's on Christmas Eve, with the Mickey's that are here on Christmas Day, and then we get to see the Bell's on the 29th for Grandpa's birthday! That's the most important part of the holidays to us, so we wanted to let you all know that we love you, and if we don't get to see you this year, we are still thinking of you!
So, while Caleb's dad was still in town, we exchanged one of our gifts last night. I got him The Tales of Beatle the Bard by J.K Rowling. (Harry Potter is what got Caleb to love reading, so I thought he would enjoy the short read.) Caleb got me Josh Groban's Noel. My mom burned me a copy last year and I listened to it until it was so scratched that you couldn't even hear Little Drummer Boy anymore, so Caleb bought me my own copy. He's so sweet!
We hope you all have happy holidays! We will try to post more, but life gets so crazy, it may be another catch up post!

Ok, time to catch up...

To start off, Caleb is still looking for work! It's getting really frustrating for him because he will call back not long after he puts in an application, and they will have already filled the position. Oh well, here's to hoping something works out soon!

Next, Caleb let me play with his hair a little, and we got him a new style. What do you think?

I like it personally, but I know it's not everyone's taste

So, on Tuesday, Caleb and I were both at home in the morning, I was getting ready to go to work, and he was going to go get in the shower and start his day. Well, I decided to chase him, and this is what happened.

Yes, that is a broken pinky toe you are looking at. I still feel so awful about it!

Last night, Caleb and I, along with my father in law Don, had the chance to attend the dress rehersal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert! It was amazingly beautiful! They sang so many great Christmas songs, and they had amazing guests. They had Edward Herrmann(Richard on Gilmore Girls, FDR in Annie, the snobby husband to Goldie Hawn in Overboard) as a narrator, and their guest singer was Brian David Mitchell (Singing voice from The Prince of Egypt's song Through Heaven's Eyes) who both did amazing things! It was truly a wonderful experience, and I have to thank my parents for handing over their tickets to us when they found out they couldn't go! I really wish they could of. It was so great!

And last but not least, Mom requested a new picture to hang in the living room, so my good friend Nate, who takes all of our lovely pictures except for our wedding ones, took us out for another picture excursion, and here are the pictures from it. Enjoy!

Hope you are all doing well!

A year ago yesterday...

I married the most wonderful man! He's my best friend, and he is so good to me. He makes me laugh every day, and he takes care of me and lets me know how much he loves me. We are getting close to our goal of being able to go to the temple. Hopefully only a few more months! But, I still wouldn't trade being married to Caleb for anything in the world. Here are some pics just for fun!

Thanksgiving and Twilight

So, I'm going to start with the less cheesy subject! Don't fall over in shock, but I made most of Thanksgiving dinner yesterday! I'm so proud of myself! I'm not the most amazing cook ever, but I did fairly well for myself! I even made the best pumpkin pie my husband has ever had. (At least that's what he told me. Who knows if that's really the truth...) But needless to say, I was exhausted after! It's really exhausting to do most of it on your own. I did have some guidance on how to do things from my mother in law, minus the pie. That was all grandma's guidance! Everything turned out great.
Ok, so I think this is fairly funny. We went to see Twilight last Saturday with our friends Carrie and Nate, and I liked it. It was enjoyable, but I wish they had a bigger budget, so that they could get the authors vision on certain things like the Cullens house. But the funniest thing was, CALEB LOVES IT!!! I had to drag him basically kicking and screaming to go see it, and he loved it so much, that on Wednesday night we had some cash, and he wanted to go and see it again! I didn't mind. I actually think I liked it a lot better the second time I saw it, because I wasn't being nit picky about the things from the book. Caleb hasn't read them, so he just loved the movie. I think my favorite people from the movie were Charlie (Bella's Dad) and Emmett (Edwards Vampire "Brother") They made me crack up! I thought they were perfectly cast.

Still looking....

Caleb still hasn't found a new job. It's beginning to get a little stressful for us. He goes out every day and applies everywhere. We just are running out of places to go. To help in the meantime, I have decided to start selling Avon for some extra income. Avon no longer has territories, so feel free to order from me online and have it shipped directly to you. My website is www.youravon.com/smickey and I'm actually suprised how much I like their products. Their makeup doesn't irritate my sensitive skin, and lasts longer than some of my expensive stuff. Check it out!

My parents are in Brazil visiting their new grandbaby, and I'm so jealous! One, it's warm. Two, I want to meet William. Three, I miss them all. Four, I'm in dire need of a real vacation. Five, I really want to meet William. (Wait, did I already mention that?) :)

This last Sunday, we had a Thanksgiving Dinner with some of the family on my mom's side that I don't get to see often. It was really fun to get to see them and visit with them a little. It's sad that they only live a little over an hour away and I hardly see them. I also got to see Chanda and Daniel, and I haven't seen them in 3 years at least. It was awesome to see them.

Gratitude

So, I've been thinking a lot lately for the things that I am greatful for, since Thanksgiving is coming up. I've decided to list a few things that I am thankful for.

1. My Honey: Caleb is so amazing to me. Even when we have nothing, he finds a way to take care of me. He loves me to an extent that I don't feel I deserve. He is amazing in so many ways, and I am truly so lucky to have him.

2. My Famliy, especially my Brazilians: Even though I'm so far from my siblings, I am so greatful to have such loving and caring ones. They are amazing. I'm also blessed with the most giving parents I could have ever asked for! They truly give me so much, and have for so long. They truly have been an amazing blessing in my life.

3. My In Laws - I hear of so many people who don't get along with their in laws, and it makes me feel so blessed. My in laws are amazing! They treat me as one of their own children, and sometimes would tell me that they would trade me for Caleb. (Totally joking of course) They raised Caleb so well. They are so wonderful. My sister in law Amanda is also wonderful. It's nice to know that I will have someone to talk to at family functions besides Caleb and his parents. Her kids are so much fun too. I love when we get to visit with them!

4. My Job - I am so blessed to be able to do something that I love so much, and be able to make money at it. Being a hairdresser is so rewarding every day! The salon I work in is full of wonderful people who make me feel like a better stylist every day that I'm there. It's such a blessing.

5. My kitten - I know it sounds silly, but she is like my child! She is so playful and so loving, she just brings a joy into my life that I can't really describe, but my mom, my mom-in-law and Rendi I know can understand. Picking her that day at the shelter was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday, and hope you remeber what you are thankful for!

Lay off and Jewel spayed.

So, It's been too long since I've posted. We've been a little crazy, so please forgive me. Well, 'tis the season of construction layoff. With the state of the economy, layoff came earlier for Caleb this year. Now we are on the job hunt for him again. We aren't picky about what he does for right now, we just need to be able to pay the bills. If anyone hears of anything in the area of Utah County, please let us know. The only thing I will say, is Caleb isn't terribly comfortable with computers. He's talked to several places each day, but no luck in this last week.

On to what happened yesterday. We took our little Jewel to get spayed. I hated leaving her at the vet. She had a look of terror when we left the room and she stayed, and then I heard her little tiny meow, and it took everything I had in me not to cry. When we picked her up, the second they brought her in the room, she came right to me, and wouldn't leave my side for most of the evening. She was so drugged up that she couldn't even walk straight. She's such a trooper though. She slept through most of the night, right in between Caleb and I, I think to make sure we weren't going to leave her again. But, I'm proud to say she is acting like herself this morning, and everything is back to normal.

Hope you are all doing well!

Ellison Healthy Lifestyle Update

I promised to keep people posted, and we are doing great! I'm loosing weight pretty steadily, and Caleb has lost some. We feel like we are getting healthy, and that's the goal! Getting active, and eating right feels good! I encourage everyone to take some small steps to get on track!

Baby William is here!

Ty and Kimie called my mom this morning, and their baby arrived at about 8:30 our time! Kimie and William are doing great! William Brady Hataba Ellison weighed 7lb and is 17 inches long! We are so excited to have him here! Ty said they were going to try to have pics on the blog later today! This is my first niece or nephew that I'll get to see through the beginning. I missed out on a lot with Ricardo, and I don't want to miss out with this nephew! I'm so excited!

It's under $3!!!

FINALLY!!! Fuel is under $3 again! It's sad that I'm so excited about it, but I even saw fuel for $2.87 on the way home today! It's financially really been helping Caleb and I since fuel started going down so quick. We haven't felt like we've needed to use our credit cards, (which is ideal in our economy!) I just need to talk to the credit card companies and see if I can get our interest rates lowered, because apparently they are doing that! :) They would rather lower the interest rate and have people pay, then have people not pay at all! We'll see how that goes. Anyhow. I can't express how excited I am to see fuel going down to a remotely reasonable rate! It still has a way to go before I will be jumping up and down too much! :)

Thanks Kristin!

Krisitn Tagged me, so here we go!

8 favorite TV shows
1. Gilmore Girls
2. Reba
3. Biggest Loser
4. Tim Gunn's Guide to Style
5. Tabatha's Salon Takeover
6. Shear Genius
7. What Not to Wear
8. The Today Show

8 Favorite Restraunts
1. Pizza Factory
2. Chili's
3. Los 3 Amigos (good cheap mexican)
4. Sizzler
5. TGI Fridays
6. Applebees
7. Chadders
8. IHOP

8 things that happened yesterday
1. Got a blessing, because I was struggling with my breathing at 2am (Don't worry! It was just my asthma!)
2. Got some sleep
3. Woke up with the flu minus the throwing up
4. Lounged on the couch
5. Watched Biggest Loser
6. Started feeling better
7. Got a visit from the home teachers, because they found out I was sick
8. Went to bed early, because Caleb started to feel yucky.

8 things to look forward to
1. Learning to cook healthier meals
2. My 1 year anniversary!
3. Trip down to California
4. Spoiling my kitten Jewel after she gets spayed :S
5. Christmas
6. Halloween
7. Losing all this weight
8.Thanksgiving

8 things I love about fall
1. ALL THE COLORS!!
2. The smell in the air
3. The cooler weather
4. Thanksgiving
5. Snuggling with a blanket
6. Wearing pants so I don't have to shave my legs as much :)
7. Pulling out the hot chocolate machine!
8. Getting to be an aunt again! :D (Hurry baby William!)

8 things on my wishlist
1. Loose 70 lbs
2. organize my life
3. Pray and read my scriptures daily
4. Traveling the world
5. Get out of debt
6. Get a house!
7. Saving more money
8. LOOSE WEIGHT!!! Did I mention that already? ;)

8 people I am tagging...since I can't tag Krisin back!
1. Catherine
2. Amanda J
3. Stretch and Annie
4. Krystal
5. Meggie
6. Lisa P.
7. Ty & Kimie
8. Anyone else who wants to do it! :D

Way to go....to Idaho!

So, Caleb and I took Friday off work, and went to Burley to see Grandma and Grandpa B.! We hadn't been since Memorial Day last year, so it was long over due. My parents went as well. The boys finished the stop and waste for the sprinkler system, and the girls sorted pictures. We had a lot of fun sorting pictures though. We found some classic pictures, and pictures of myself that I hadn't seen in years. (Ty and I on the day he left on his mission, us with Snoopy and Charlie Brown at Knotts Berry Farm...) It really was great! We may go back for thanksgiving...we just have to see what is going on with the family!

Taged!

Jewel playing with her sock toy from Caleb's mom

The rules:


Go to your 6th photo folder


Pull the 6th picture


Post it!


You read this, you're tagged!

BYU vs. New Mexico

So, yesterday Caleb and I got to go to the BYU game. It was FREEZING COLD!!! No rain or snow, but it was cold! We had a total blast! BYU definately could have played better, but it was a fun game. The last quarter made up for the first boring three. Josh (aka Man Shrek) came with us since my Cougar loving daddy couldn't because he was working. Missed you daddy!

In the 4th quarter when the game was fun!
Reminded me of high school and my older brother Ty
Aren't we tender??
The boys
He is just so dang cute!

Hope you enjoyed our pictures! My legs are still hurting from all the water I drank and the amount of times I had to do the stairs!

Ellison Healthy Lifestyle Challenge!

Ok, so we are starting our biggest loser challenge again, and Caleb and I signed up. We weren't that disciplined the first time around after the first couple of weeks. We really want to be healthy, so we are going to stick with it this time. It runs through Presidents day, and I would like to loose at least 35 lbs by then, maybe more. Caleb's goal is to loose about the same amount. We have lots of work to do, and we will get there! We will stick with it, and we will keep you all posted! :)

Dead Battery = Shala Is Not An Idiot!

So, I get a phone call from Caleb yesterday saying that he couldn't get the Jeep to start, it seemed like the battery was dead. I told him to jump the battery and get home so we could try to figure out what was going on. He took my car with the battery from the Jeep down to AutoZone, to test it to see if it was the battery or the alternator, because everyone was trying to tell him it was the alternator. Other than the battery dying, the car didn't have any signs of a dead alternator. (I've been the driver of two different vehicles when the alternator has gone out.) The battery was totally fried needless to say, and the guy at AutoZone taught Caleb a way to test at home with a new battery to see if the alternator was dead. Caleb did the test, and the alternator wasn't the problem.
Then we went to our weekly "trucker coffee" where we go hang with Caleb's trucker friends, and get a soda or a hot chocolate while they drink their coffee. All the guys there like to think they know everything about cars. They were all trying to tell him his alternator was still bad. I knew that it wasn't, but none of these men wanted to trust my knowledge or listen to me. So, just to prove to them that I knew what I was talking about, Caleb took the alternator into AutoZone and had them test it, and it was perfectly fine.
The lesson here is, just because I'm a woman, doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to cars. I'll admit that I don't know a lot about them, but what I do know, I know for pretty darn sure!

Playing with Prissy and Adventures in Grass

So, Jewel and my mother in law's dog Prissy are about the same size now. Jewel snuck upstairs one day, and they started playing, so we brought them downstairs away from the other dogs, so that they could play without the other dogs getting in the way. They had a blast, and didn't get too rough with each other.

After that play time, we took Jewel outside for the first time. She really didn't like the feel of grass. She thought it felt weird. She even stuck her tongue out about it, (look closely at the first picture.) She quickly scurried onto the patio, and hasn't loved grass yet.


Hope you enjoyed our pictures and stories! She's gotten so big it's crazy!

Happy Birthday Grandma E!

We just wanted to give her a little shout out letting her know how much we appreciate her and love her! She's great, and we wouldn't trade her for the world!

Sunday Dinner at Our House!

So, our usual thing on sundays is to go up to my parents house and have sunday dinner with them, so we see them at least once a week. For a change, they came down to our little place! It was really nice! We just had a very simple baked potato bar, but it was still really nice.
Jewel loved spending time with them, and my mom tried to make Jewel cuddle with her. Sadly for mom, we have a very independent kitten, and she only cuddles when she is tired.
We also sat and watched our wedding video with them. Yeah, they were there, and filmed it, and edited it, but it was still fun to watch it with them. They didn't usually get to hear our commentating on it when they had watched it before. They got to learn a little more about my husband and it was really nice.
Hopefully we will be able to have them over for dinner more! I like to cook!

Funny Story

So, I'm laying in bed this morning, and the cat lays on our bed at night. All the sudden, Jewel is meowing at me, walking all over my face, and using her claws to PULL THE COMFORTER AND SHEETS DOWN! She was trying to kick me out of the bed so she could lay in it! She is so stinking smart. She's also figured out when I'm awake, my eyes are open. So now she will gently wake me up by pawing my eyeballs! She's such a stinker sometimes, but she's so adorable the rest of the time, that it's hard not to love her! She's gotten really big so fast! I'll post new pics soon! :) I just wanted to share that story. I woke up laughing my head off because of it.

Help Me!

So, here's the deal. I needed a new headshot for my website. (http://www.shalamickey.com/) I need something that looks professional, and makes me look like I know what I'm doing! I put my top five pictures on here, so let me know which one is your favorite. Thanks!

Shout out for Sparkpeople!

So, I am an avid fan of sparkpeople.com! It helps me track my calories eaten, calories burned, and basically gives me someone to report to on being fit! I'm down 3.6 lbs in the 2 weeks I've been doing it again, and I feel a lot better about myself since I started doing it again. My goal is to loose about 2 lbs a week. That's a healthy amout to loose, and it's easier to keep of the slower it comes off. Anyone who wants to join, it's completely free, and a great way to stay on track! Find me if you decide to do it!

Penny Pinching

So, Caleb and I are really shooting to eliminate as much debt as we can by the end of the year, so I'm the coupon clipping, penny pinching wife. It gets tough sometimes, because it feels like we can never catch up. As soon as we pay down a credit card a little, some car trouble happens and we have to use it. Or the groceries cost more than we expected. We have been a lot better to not eat out as much and things, but we just hang at home most of the time and make our meals. We use minimal gas, (Gas is still $3.87 here, for my fam in Cali and Idaho) and do everything we can. I don't know what else to do. Any other suggestions?

All Good Dogs Go To Heaven...

Today, my parents had to put our Sanka down. We had him for 14 wonderful years, and he filled our life with so much fun and so much joy as kids. I still remember the day Tyler brought him home from the horse pasture. Our bunny Gandolf had died a day or two before, and we really wanted another pet. We had our Tigger, but it wasn't the same. We kept him in the yard until our parents got home. Sanka's big brown eyes won over mom, and we got to keep him...as long as we didn't name him Killer. :) He tore up the yard yes, but that doesn't change how much we loved him, or anything of the sort. I'll miss his cute face in the backyard when I go to visit.
Really, we know now that he doesn't hurt, so this is the best thing for him. I just can't wait to run into him in the after life, and run and play with him again, just like the day we brought him home.

Miss you already dear friend. I couldn't have asked for a better dog. And there ends my Ode to Sanka.

For all you Twitch lovers...

I got really into So You Think You Can Dance this year, and was really rooting for Twitch to win. Joshua was deserving, yes, but I was still rooting for Twitch in my heart. So, as I mentioned in my last post, Angela was here last weekend. She hadn't seen Hairspray yet, and so we sat and watched it. As we were watching the last number in the movie, the guy that Amber (Brittany Snow) is checking out in the last number....is a clean shaven Twitch! He has auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance the year before they filmed Hairspray, and the coreographer is associated with the show, and cast him! We were FREAKING OUT when we realized it was him! Caleb being the loving husband he is, just stared and laughed at us. Check it out! He stands out to us....but that's because we know who he is too. We think he is a better dancer now than he was then. :D

New Friends

So, this last weekend my friend Angela came to stay with us. Jewel took to her just like she took to me when we first got her. She would just cuddle up to Angela like she was me. They played a lot, and she just loved her. She meowed and cried when Angela left. So here is the picture I took when they were relaxing on the couch!

Wide Open Spaces

So, I've been thinking that I wanted to rearrange the furniture in our living room for quite a while now, and finally last night, we did it. By doing that, the room feels twice as big, and we are able to enjoy the space now.
Jewel is loving the new open space. She gets to run and play without an obstacle course now. She has grown like a weed since we got her. She's twice as big, and weighs 3.5 lbs. She's still a runt, but we love her. We have also started to allow her to go out back after the dogs have been taken in the house for the night. She's not so sure how she feels about grass, but she loves to chase Caleb on the patio.

Family In Town

So, for a little over a week now, we have had the privelidge of having Caleb's sister and her children out here! It's been really nice to spend some time with them. We were able to do some shopping, and just spend time together. We've also had some really great discussions that we have all benefited from. I love that part of being with family. There are always some good discussions to have. All the kids have their birthdays in August, so we got to spoil the kids as much as we could while they have been here. We will miss them when they leave in the morning.

Logan Trip

So, our runaway weekend took us to the lovely Logan, in which we coincidentally drove past Alan and Rendi's old house, which is up for sale... We had lots of fun, and we have tons of pictures to share with you!

My Angie at Angie's Diner!
Goofy face!
Outside the Anniversary Inn
Birthday Dessert at Iggy's
The coolest tub ever! The putting green!

Lunch at Fredrico's! He likes it!Me too!

The water comes out of the snake's mouths! Sweet!

The sweet paint job in the 2nd room!

Aww! Handsome hubby!

So, that was our trip! We did a lot of loafing, and I read breaking dawn! It was good. I was disappointed in a couple of things, but it's all good. Hope you liked our pics!