Thanksgiving and Birthday Karaoke Jam

It was lovely to have four days off to celebrate Thanksgiving and my birthday. For Thanksgiving, Jeremy & I spent the day at his mom's. The food at the Workman household is always dee-LISH and we played a marathon game of Phase 10. Woah, seriously? 4 hours? :)

After the game, we watched Christmas Vacation at Jeremy's dad's place. It's an annual tradition. The next day was my birthday. I made it a goal to be ultra-productive and get lots of my "to-do's" done - which I did. Jeremy (and Mara - thanks for the gift card!!) took me to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, and then we went to our friend Mark's place where a bunch of my friends gathered for karaoke. It's always a good time at Mark's. Thanks to everyone who was able to come! I wish I would've thought to pull out my camera before the majority was gone, but oh well. Here's what I got.

November's here already?

November just fleeeeeewwww by! It's crazy how fast time flies by with each passing year. Lots of birthdays to celebrate this month, including MINE. Stephanie's came first, and we celebrated at one of our favorite spots, Indochine Vietnamese Bistro. Here is the adorable McElwee family:

My birthday got stretched out at least a week, since my sister Shaunna & Keith left for Italy on the 21st. So we celebrated early by going to the Cheesecake Factory. Shaunna & Betty presented me with this awesome t-shirt quilt that I'd requested months ago. I was so surprised - I didn't expect it til Christmas! It's the coolest. I've numbered each square below so I can give the background on each nostalgic t-shirt.

1- These are some of my favorite flannel pants - little dogs and bones.

2- Just a fun t-shirt "Sunny California" to commemorate my mission.

3- One of my favorite most comfortable t-shirts - no idea if this school exists, but it's orange!

4- Oakley Networks - where I worked from '05-'06 and still have many friends.

5- My VH-1 I Love the 80s shirt.

6- Wells Fargo Health Benefit Services - where I've worked for three years today!

7- A t-shirt Shaunna made me after we attended our "dream show" of Chess in Concert with Josh Groban, Adam Pascal, Sutton Foster, Julie M..., and Carl Lewis. NYC '03. Seriously, one of the best shows I've ever been to!!

8- Claude Monet's gardens - Shaunna & I visited Monet's home in France while I was in London, studying abroad.

9- Parting gift from one of Mark Holt's fabulous birthday parties.

10- Jekyll & Hyde, my favorite musical ever!

11- Kawarau Bridge Bungy - where I jumped for my 32nd birthday in Queenstown, New Zealand.

12- A t-shirt from one of my visits to beautiful Edinburgh, Scotland.

13- New York City, baby!

14- My first visit to Chicago - it's my kinda town!

15- See #16

16- My t-shirt from the fifth grade. I was in a 89ers "club" with a bunch of awesome girls. We've recently reconnected on Facebook and old pictures of me wearing this shirt were shared. Awesome!

17- The Civil War, from the first production that my mom, Shaunna, and I attended in '98. Great memories from that weekend with mom.

18- The backside of #17.

19- A t-shirt my friend Shauna gave me: MY SUPERPOWER IS SHOPPING. She knows me well. Actually, you hardly have to know me to know that.

20- A pajama top from one of many given at Brown Christmas by the illustrious Betty!

21- One of my favorite t-shirts from my skinnier days. New York rules!

22- The back of #6, listing all the departments in my division at Wells Fargo HBS.

Here is the back of the quilt. Also used are old, worn flannel pants and old jeans I can no longer squeeze into. I hope you like it! Good luck finding someone to make you one! (I'm SO lucky!)

October - My favorite month!!

I love October. The weather, the clothes, the colors, everything! The month started off with a great weekend of General Conference. Some great talks. While the guys were at their Priesthood meeting, my cute cousins, Jenny & Shannon, and I got together for a marathon dinner out at The Cheesecake Factory (yes, that means 3 times in one month's time). We had a great time catching up and just talking for hours (til nearly 2am!).
Jeremy and I were a little late, but we managed to fit in our annual fall drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon and over Guardsman Pass into Park City. Most of the leaves were gone, but it was still nice. At least we had seen it a few weeks earlier, in its prime, when we went up for Brighton Sunday.
My next adventure was a trip to New York City. I hadn't been in 3 years, so it was long overdue. My friend Chara met me there and we took in some shows and shopping for 4 days. She has a friend who has a corporate apartment near NYU, so we got to stay there for free. It was wonderful and kept the trip very inexpensive, thankfully. We saw Linda Eder in concert at the old Town Hall where she was promoting her new album Soundtrack. I'm not really thrilled with her new style, but it was still nice to see her live again. Broadway shows included West Side Story, Mary Poppins (my favorite of the weekend), and Rock of Ages. Great casts, lots of talent.

There were some changes made in my single ward this fall. Our bishopric was released and a new one was called from the Parley's Stake. We attended a Ward Luau in their honor where there was food, bishopric roasts, and a slideshow. The last few minutes of the slideshow included a song "For Good" from Wicked that was very fitting.

It well may be that we will never meet again In this lifetime

So let me say before we part

So much of me is made of what I learned from you

You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart

And now whatever way our stories end

I know you have re-written mine by being my friend...

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

I do believe I have been changed for the better...

And because I knew you...

I have been changed for good...

It was very emotional for me. I'll miss Bishop Craig Proctor, Brother Craig Crockett, and Brother Jim Reynolds. They are good men - and so are the incoming bishopric members. I'm sure we'll grow to love them as well.

And lastly, Halloween. My favorite holiday, in my favorite month. Kristin & Michael came to visit again, and Jeremy and I got to spend the afternoon/evening with them and the wonderful Maxwell family. We even got to do some trick-or-treating with the kids, which I hadn't done in years. Way fun. Carter & Ellie were freakin' adorable as a bee and beekeeper.
Then Jeremy & I went to my house and got changed into our costumes to go to a party at Lyndee's place downtown. Jeremy looked awesome as Quasimodo again this year, and I was a wench.

September Highlights

September is one of my favorite months of the year. The heat finally starts to subside and the cool, crisp fall weather start. Bliss.
September was filled with dinners out with friends. My favorite. I am blessed with lots of very good friends. A few times a year, I get together with a group of girls that I used to work with at Creating Keepsakes Magazine ('03-'04). I always have a great time catching up and seeing their babies come and grow. This is Stephanie and her son, Joshua, who was born with a fuzed skull. His brain was growing out the back last time we saw him in February, and here he is, months after surgery, doing perfectly. What a little trooper.
Jeremy worked overtime one Friday night, so I organized a little GNO with a few friends from my singles ward. We met up at The Cheesecake Factory and had a fun evening, talking for hours. Gotta love girlfriends.
My friend Candy came to town for a friend's wedding, so we got to see her and go out to dinner and a show at the Sandy Amphitheatre. On stage was Shawn Borrowes on the piano and singing. He opened for a comedian named Jason Howland, who was pretty funny. He did lots of impressions and we were pretty amused. Very fun evening. No pictures, unfortunately.
A big highlight of the month was a visit from Michael & Kristin. We spent the afternoon at Hogle Zoo and saw lots of animals. I hadn't been there since I was 12, and it was fun sharing it with little Carter & James.

August Fun

Besides Brittany's trip to Utah for EFY and visiting me, other highlights from August included seeing my nephew, Jordan dance at a Dance Camp he attended at BYU.


I got to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity with my employer, Wells Fargo Health Benefit Services. I was bummed I didn't get to work on a house - rather we weeded a huge area so a playground could be put in. Wow, was that exhausting!

My old friends Jennifer & Bruce Wright were in town from San Francisco, and Jeremy & I got to spend an evening with them and their 5 kids on Temple Square and celebrate Jen's 40th birthday. Those kids are all getting so big & cute!
Jeremy & I met up with our friend "Fun Cory," Shaunna, & Keith to have dinner at Sundance and see a show at the outdoor Sundance Theatre, "The Fantastiks." It was truly the dumbest musical I've ever witnessed, but it was way fun to hang out together in that great venue.Depeche Mode came to town and Jeremy & I couldn't miss it! We love them live! They rocked the house and we had a great time.
I invited my good friend Sheri Hicken and her kids over to swim for the last days of summer. Time sure flies - it's been 18 months since we've seen each other. The kids had a great time swimming and Aryann got to do some school shopping alone w/ her mom while I hung out w/ the boys.
The last day of the month I got to see a local production of The Scarlet Pimpernel with Cory (Jeremy has a policy to see a musical only once). It was a pretty good production, and Cory was such a fun viewing partner! That's why we call him "Fun Cory"!!

Brittany's visit to Utah

Brittany got to come up to Utah for Especially for Youth (EFY) last week, and I got to check her in and pick her up. Oh, how I wish I could've stayed and attended EFY too!!! What good times. She ended up having great spiritual experiences, had great roomies (5 other girls who also went alone), and made a bunch of new friends. Sooo glad she got to go and have this life-changing experience. Then she stayed with me for 4 days. We packed in a lot of fun on Saturday, including breakfast out, facials at the beauty college, a pedicure 4 me, shopping in SLC, a nap, shopping in Park City, an outdoor performance of the Utah Symphony at Deer Valley, and then cheese fries at Training Table. Way fun & full day. I was sad to see her go yesterday.

I LOVE YOU, BRITTANY!!!!

Pioneer Day Weekend

Every year on the 23rd of July, Bountiful holds its Annual Pioneer Day Parade, which all of the Willeys faithfully attend. This year was no exception. We expected a shorter parade (with the current economy), but we actually got a longer parade with more vehicles, less floats. Then we had a potluck bbq at Jeremy's aunts' house and watched some good fireworks. Jeremy's sister Amy and her family were in town from Phoenix, so we got to hang out with them a bit too.

On Saturday, I got together with some girls that I grew up with in Kennewick. We'd planned this get-together a few months ago for the six of us, and two weren't able to make it. But the four of us still had a great time catching up, hearing about each others' families and lives. It was great.

Sherrie, Donna Hunt Mercer, Laurel Banner Orr, and Marci Peterson Burnside

Weekend with Sarah in the O.C.

I met my friend Sarah in Orange County and we went to the Tears for Fears concert at the O.C. Fair. It was a great show - they sounded great. I love all their old and new stuff. We got a great deal on a room at the Hilton Garden Inn through Priceline and enjoyed some good meals and just catching up with each other.

Visiting the Smith family in Newbury Park

I went on up to Newbury Park to visit with the Smith family. I got to attend the ward I served in as a missionary 17 years ago (yikes!). Then we went up to Carpinteria State Beach where their friends were camping for the week and had yummy tin foil dinners and walked along the beach at sunset. Gorgeous!

Visiting the Andersons in St. George

Man, I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted. Why does time pass so quickly??? Since I last posted, I went on a fun road-trip to St George and to Southern California. It was so nice to be able to see some new scenery and visit dear friends, yet work from wherever I was (on weekdays) and not use any PTO. Here are a few pictures from my visit with Kristin and her cute family. This is the view from their new place!