Tis' the Season!

I generally do not like anything Christmas before Thanksgiving. (We need to get through one holiday before we start the other!) But this year feels a little different.

We are all seeing the effects that our economy is having on everyone and everything. Friends, family, people at work, and Mike and I have been starting to watch our spending a little more. I have been hearing "Bah Hum-Bug" A LOT at work and when walking through stores where Christmas is being commercialized. At first I was in the same boat. Mike and I have to be very careful this Christmas and it has made me a little sad. My favorite part of Christmas is buying for others and seeing their faces when I give it to them! But then I had a reality check.

Every year it seems like Christmas is getting further and further away from its real meaning. People have been concentrating on the gifts, the trees, the decorations, the holiday movies more and more. Because of this everyone around us is not happy with the season this year. That is why I believe that this is the perfect year to bring Christ back into Christmas. He is our one true Savior that brings comfort to our hearts. We may not have money to celebrate Christmas, but it does not cost a penny to celebrate our Savior's Birth.

Because of these thoughts and feelings, I have been in the Christmas spirit more and earlier this year than I have in years. I am so grateful to have the faith and wisdom to bring me such comfort during these hard times.

Its not about the presents, its about Jesus Christ and the gift our Heavenly Father gave us when sending him to earth. With this Mike and I are wishing all of our Friends and Family a very Happy Holiday!

Its Mayhem & Chaos at the Peters....LITERALLY!

So I don't know if we told you that we decided to keep the Kitty! I was so excited because I was getting really attached to him! And the Kitty now has a name.....CHAOS! I know, I know, people think we are crazy for naming our pets Mayhem and Chaos! Their names fit them SOOOOO well though!

Chaos has adjusted really well to our home and Mayhem now has a little play buddy! We are trying to teach Mayhem to be a little bit more gentle, but I think its close to impossible. He loves to play with Chaos and gets a little out of control.

Mayhem's favorite thing to do with Chaos lately is run around the house with Chaos in his mouth! Chaos starts to meow really loudly like its hurting him, but if Mayhem puts him down he turns around and attacks Mayhem. They both love to play with each other. And hopefully I can catch Mayhem in the act of carrying Chaos so I can show everyone how hilarious it is!

But yes, having two pets has definitely spiced things up here especially since they are both so little still. So when we say that its Mayhem and Chaos here, we are meaning it LITERALLY!!!!! :)

The Birthday Girl....

I know I need to get a lot better at posting things right after they happen! But at least I'm getting them up there, right?!?!

So Saturday, October 25th was my 28th birthday. I wasn't really wanting to do a whole lot because I wasn't too thrilled about age 28..... 28 just sounds SOOOOO much older than 27! I can officially say that I am in my late twenties! :(

Well, I started the day with a little pampering at the day spa! It was so nice and needed! Then I met my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for lunch at my favorite place....The Cheesecake Factory! It was so good and nice to sit and relax for the morning. Then my mom and Ty came into Phoenix to go to dinner with Mike and I. Ashlee just got a job at a really nice steakhouse called The Keg. She made reservations for all of us and it was probably the best steak I have ever had! I HIGHLY recommend it! :) Then we went out for a little bit with my friends.

Mike was such a trooper the whole day! He had something to do that day and had been up since 3:00am. After he got home he went straight to dinner with us. I didn't even want to go out with my friends because I knew how tired Mike was, but he insisted that we went. He didn't complain once and tried to make the night perfect. However he ended up falling asleep at Lindsey and Ramey's house. That was our cue to leave!

Even though I wasn't too thrilled about 28, everyone made it a great day! Thank you everyone and I love you all very much!!!!

Let's Go Phoenix Suns!

On Wednesday night Mike was able to get hooked up with tickets to the Phoenix Suns Pre-Season Game. I was really excited because I had never been to a game before.
When we got to the arena, the tickets were waiting for us along with another surpise...we got hooked up with "back-stage" tickets after the game too!

Our seats were also pretty good, we were sitting lower level and the game was easier to watch since we were so close. Mike and I left a couple of minutes before the game ended so that we could go to the Team Store and get something to autograph. Once we found a little basketball, Mike and I headed toward the Suns' locker room!

We saw all of the players! And let me tell you that Shaquil O'Neal is freaking huge! I felt so short standing there by them. Mike was looking forward to seeing Steve Nash the most, so when Nash came out, Mike got his autograph and a picture! For my first time at a Phoenix Suns' basketball game, it was awesome!

Here Kitty, Kitty!

About a week and a half ago at work I decided to go to lunch. As I walked out of the doors of the bank I heard a little kitten crying in the bush. The kitty was the littlest thing I have ever seen and I thought the mother would be somewhere around. I kept looking for the mama cat and couldn't find her. I couldn't leave the kitten outside by itself, you could tell that she was really scared, so I brought her into the bank. No one at the bank wanted her and I couldn't just let her go outside. So I called Mike and he told me to bring her home!

I first took Kitty (that is what we are calling her until we decide if we are keeping her or not) to the vet. I didn't want to bring her home if she had anything wrong with her. The vet weighed her and she didn't even weigh a pound! He also said that she was probably only 4 weeks old, if even that. After we found out the Kitty was healthy I brought her home and introduced her to Mayhem.



Mayhem has definitely been curious of Kitty and loves to play with her. But we have to remind him to be more gentle....he tends to get a little rough with her. But Kitty seems to like Mayhem too! I'm starting to really get attached and now have to convince Mike to keep Kitty!

California, Here We Come!!!!

About 5 months ago, Mike told me that he was going to be signing up to do the Disney 1/2 Marathon over Labor Day Weekend. He was going to do this with a couple of Wells Fargo Employees. Together, they would wake up at 4:30 in the morning at least 3 times a week. They were completely dedicated.

Well the weekend finally came and we all headed to California! We were all So excited. Mike, Cassidi and Graham were excited for the marathon, and I was SUPER excited for Disneyland....and their marathon! :)

We left on Saturday, August 30th REALLY early in the morning. We were driving and we wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time to shop in Palm Springs and make it in time for the marathon check-in. We spent about 2 hours in Palm Springs and then had to drag ourselves away from the Outlets before we spent all of our money. Mike was obsessed with the Nike Outlet, while I was obsessed with Coach, Banana Republic, Prada, Gucci, and the Kate Spade Outlets! :)

After shopping we continued the drive to check-in to our hotel, and then to check-in for the marathon. The marathon check-in was at the Disneyland Resort so we had to walk through Downtown Disney. This REALLY made the excitement grow more! We walked around and did a little shopping after Mike and the others collected their marathon things. However, Mike dragged us away before we really wanted to go so that they could rest before the 1/2 Marathon.

Sunday morning Mike, Cassidi, and Graham were all awake by 3:30 in the morning. Landon (Cassidi's Fiance) and I were not about to get up that early, so we said that we would meet them at the finish line. I know, I know, we could have been a lot more supportive, but 3:30 is WAY too early!!!! By 7:30am Landon and I were up and heading to the finish line to meet everyone. There were TONS of people there and I was surprised that we found them! Everyone did a really good job. Mike finished 13.1 miles in under 2 hours and Graham and Cassidi were just over 2 hours and 15 minutes! Good Job Guys! That night we went for a little dinner celebration to everyone's favorite....Sushi!

Monday we celebrated Labor Day at Hunnington Beach. Mike, Cassidi, and Graham were really sore and wanted to take it easy for the day. So we hung out on the beach, rented body boards, and played smash ball. It was a really good day except for the fact that Cassidi and I almost drowned in the ocean! Note to self....don't rent a body board and go out in the ocean without instructions or knowing how to swim well!!!!

Tuesday was the best day by far....well, at least for me....we were spending the day at DISNEYLAND! I absolutely love it there and Mike hadn't been there since he was 10 so there was a lot of new additions. We were able to go on all of the rides that we wanted with the exception of the Haunted Manson, it was closed for "Beautification" and I was really disappointed. However, both of us experienced a new ride for the first time and Mike and I both said that it was our favorite. It is the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster, and it is light a giant video game. We loved it and were able to get this picture from it! As you can see, I totally kicked Mike's butt in the game! :) Another picture that we got was at Splash Mountain. We had to ride this ride twice to actually get a good picture. However, I was not so happy after the second time around. I was placed in the very front row and got COMPLETELY drenched!

Disneyland was so much fun! There are also WAY too many pictures to actually show, so I have created another slideshow for everyone to enjoy. We had a blast and have already been talking about next years trip. I told Mike that next year I MIGHT do the 1/2 Marathon with them. But that is a REALLY big Might! :)

Monsoon Season Is Here!!!!

August in Arizona has always been known as Monsoon season. We get most of our rain the entire year in one month. This year has been crazy, and I've never seen Monsoon season this bad! The other day the wind and rain was so hard that it looked like a mild hurricane. After the storm was over there were trees uprooted everywhere. Then tonight we had another storm pass through. This one didn't have wind like the last one, but it was the craziest lightning storm I have ever seen. This video doesn't even do it justice. It looked like someone had a strobe light outside, lighting up the whole sky when it flickered! :)