I love how even driving 45 min and staying in a hotel can make it seem like you’re on vacation even if you’re not that far from home! We had the perfect weekend celebrating our anniversary.
We started out the weekend by going to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square Christmas Concert with Kristen Chenoweth. I have never been to this concert before. Tickets are basically IMPOSSIBLE to get but we lucked out this year and now I don't know how I'm going to cope if we don't get them in the future. It was absolutely AMAZING! Full of all things Christmas and Kristen was very entertaining.
On our wedding night we stayed at the anniversary inn in salt lake and loved it even though it's at the top of this scary hill and used to be a prison (yikes!) and wanted to go back this year to try a different room! This is the venice room and I think I liked it more than the lighthouse room we stayed in last year.
The next morning we slept in, which is always so nice, had breakfast at the hotel, and then made our way to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to buy something from the giving machines! We ended up getting eyeglasses and an eye exam. It was so fun to see all the things you could choose from though and think about all the people you could help!
We also took a quick stroll through the decorated windows at the Grand America and then stopped for lunch on our way home. It was absolutely lovely.
On Sunday, the actual anniversary day, we both had to teach at church so it wasn't anything exciting, but I think we got enough celebrating in. We also tried our cake topper and it was surprisingly good after sitting in the freezer for a year!
People will tell you all sorts of things about what to expect during your first year of marriage. If you're engaged, you probably ignored all of it because you were so in love that you couldn't even fathom that anything would go other than smoothly because of how perfect you are for each other.
Having known Bryan for 6 years before we got married, and being a little bit older than maybe your average Provo couple, I would like to think that I was a little more prepared and able to see things a little more clearly than others.
That being said, our first year of marriage went pretty much exactly how I thought it would go, which was GREAT! Maybe we're setting ourselves up for really hard things to come in the future, but most everything really did go quite smoothly!
It has always just felt right. Yes, there were small adjustments that needed to be made (hello, living with a BOY is weird in and of itself) and there were discussions where we didn't always agree on, but isn't that just a part of being human? Overall, Bryan and I make such a great pair and support each other on everything.
If I picked just one word to describe the past year, it would be HAPPINESS. Seriously, my life is just so much more simple now. I don't have to worry about going out of my way to be social, I can go to bed at a decent hour, I have more time to spend on my job as well as the things I like to do, and I have a built in adventure buddy. I can't remember the last time I felt really upset, worried, stressed, or just down in general which is so refreshing.
Honestly, the year flew by and I'm sure it will continue to be that way. But I am so grateful for this life I have and to get to spend it with Bryan every day!
Elise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful. Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from her building, Elise has never formally met him. Tired of spending the holidays alone, the man offers her a proposition. For the next eight weeks - until the evening of December 24 - he suggests that they pretend to be a couple. He draws up a contract with four rules: 1. No deep, probing personal questions 2. No drama 3. No telling anyone the truth about the relationship. 4. The contract is void on Christmas Day The lonely Elise surprises herself by agreeing to the idea. As the charade progresses, the safety of her fake relationship begins to mend her badly broken heart. But just as she beings to find joy again, her long-held secret threatens to unravel the emerging relationship. But she might not be the only one with secrets.
If you're in the need for a super easy, Hallmark-type Christmas book, look no further!! Richard Paul Evans comes out with a new Christmas novel every single year and I look forward to spending a few hours reading it over break.
I love books that are set in places that you've been to or can connect with because it automatically makes the book more personable for you. I get so excited about things I recognize in books! This one takes place in Salt Lake and the main character eats a Cafe Rio pork salad for lunch each day. I don't know if I could eat it that much, but I love myself a Cafe Rio pork salad. After reading the book when it first came out, I took a trip up with friends and we went to Asian Star which is another restaurant they go to.
Of course in these Hallmark-type stories, the plot is fairly predictable. Heartbroken girl goes on a quest to find herself, meets extremely attractive and wealthy man that for some reason takes interest in her, they start dating, they have some sort of miscommunication which causes one of them to leave usually from another city or in an airport, and then miraculously they understand the information that they failed to listen to the first time, and they live happily ever after.
Even though we know what's going to happen, for some reason they never get old!!
This one has some deeper content that I hadn't remember before but it totally adds depth to the characters and makes them real people and I love what we get to learn from them about forgiveness and self-love. Also about finding ways to cope, move on, and become a better person.
Having your own house to decorate is so much fun!! I realize it's going to take several years to acquire all the necessary items to fully deck the halls, but I think we did pretty well for ourselves this year!
Being from Washington, I kind of demanded having a real tree! It's one of my favorite parts about Christmas, but I quickly learned that WA trees and UT trees are NOT the same. I don't regret buying one this year from the cutest family farm, but I'm not sure that it's realistic in the future to get a real one while living in Utah.
Don't worry, much to Bryan's chagrin, we had two tree, a real and fake one. His with colored lights, mine with white lights. He says his will be the favorite though because it was the one with all the presents under it. ha!
He has some of the most beautiful ornaments that he got on his mission in Germany, as well as this Christmas village and an advent nativity.
I must have got this from my mom, but I LOVE hosting people and cooking for them! Our book club is a refreshments kind of book club because most of us work so we hold it in the evenings. But our schedules didn't work out this month so we got to do it on a Saturday which called for BRUNCH.
I wanted the ladies to have options so I went a little overboard on the food, but I loved it! Now I'm just dying to throw a Christmas party!
At age sixteen, legendary swimmer Lynne Cox reached her lifetime goal of setting a new world record for an English Channel swim. So she set her goals even higher. She became the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, narrowly escaped a shark attack off the Cape of Good Hope, and was cheered across the twenty-mile Cook Strait of New Zealand by dolphins. Her daring eventually led her to the thirty-eight-degree waters of the Bering Strait, which she crossed in her usual out-fit - just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. She even swam a mile in the iceberg-choked seas of the Antarctic.
Apart from being an amazing swimmer, Lynne Cox is also a fantastic writer. This book is so fascinating! Growing up in a pool and loving the ocean as well, I cannot even fathom the idea of swimming miles in 50 degree water on top of currents and waves crashing on you, let alone swimming in 30 DEGREE WATER. She is insane, but also incredible in so many ways.
At book club, we discussed how often times, we learn of our talents when they are pointed out by someone else. For Lynne, it was a parent that watched her swimming when she was a young girl and told her she was going to swim the English Channel someday. I thought it was really interesting that others can often see things that we haven't seen in ourselves and inspire us to accomplish dreams we didn't know we had!
We also talked about how Lynne's body was absolutely perfect for long-distance ocean swimming. It is actually incredible how she was just made for this. She was also able to help many researchers with their projects of cold-water and how the human body responds to it.
I had no idea how much went in to these long, deep water swims! There are so many logistics and it requires a TEAM of people. Plus, when you account for weather, tides, currents, food, time of day, and direction, it is a seriously intense endeavor!
This book was amazing! I almost had to put it down when she goes to Egypt though! I won't share why in case you read it, but just be warned! Lynne's voice is entertaining and informative and I loved hearing her thoughts throughout her journey and how she accomplished her goals.
We moved into our house 6 months ago and I feel like this was our first big decorating project. Our house is new so no work needed to be done to the house itself, we just get to do the fun part of making it home-y.
First, I did a ton of research! Pinterest was definitely my friend here. I had no idea what kind of pieces I wanted for the wall or what size to make them and how to arrange them. I poured over hundreds of examples looking for inspiration.
Once I kind of had an idea of what I wanted, I opened a slide in Powerpoint to make a mockup of my wall. You can use any program to do this where you can freely move around images and resize them.
I learned from my research to pick a focal point and then work around that. I decided which ones I wanted to be my "big" photos and then adjusted sizes based on what fit. At this point, I had no idea what the actual photo printing dimensions I wanted, just each of the pictures in relation to one another.
I also had to think about the feel of the wall. I knew I wanted it to be bright and embrace the things that are important to us! That came down to engagement and bridal photos, travel, and the ocean. Another thing to think about is texture! Do you want different shapes? Or some things sticking out? All they all pictures or do you want to add other objects?
As you can see, I made some changes from this layout to the real thing, but it was a great place to just get my ideas out there!
The next thing I did was decide on photo dimensions. I ordered mine from Costco because they are a great price for great quality! I took the dimensions that they had available (normal sizes) and made sure that there were frames to match those sizes!
I got most of my frames from IKEA. They also have great prices. The rest I got from Michael's on sale for buy one, get one free! I have serious commitment issues when it comes to spending money so this was perfect because I felt like I was getting a good deal. I highly recommend looking for sales because frames can be so expensive!
Once I had all the pictures in the frames, I laid them out just to see how I liked it! I realized that the spacing I had on my mockup didn't exactly fit with the layout in real life so I took out a couple things. I also switched one of the pictures.
When it was time to hang it up, I did some serious measuring. The easiest thing for me was to add up the dimensions (in inches) of the length and width of my entire layout. This includes the frames because they add a couple extra inches AND DON'T FORGET to add space in between your pictures!! I did 3 inches in between each.
After I measured the length and width of my layout, I measured the length and width of the wall. You can decide where you want it to fall on your wall! I did mine centered between the floor and the ceiling, but I definitely contemplated doing it between the baseboard and the ceiling so it was a little bit higher. It's totally personal preference!
I had my corner marks, we hung the corners first, and then filled everything in from there. We used command strips which I highly recommend so you don't have to nail holes in your wall! And when taken off properly, they are super easy to work with and can hold a lot of weight!
We absolutely love this new addition to our house! I've linked all the things we used below.
Bryan took the photo of Neuschwanstein Castle
I designed the quote on Canva. I may do a tutorial on this later! It's the same program I use to do all my quotes for my book reviews each month.
I love the opportunity to make every single holiday something special in my classroom! Sometimes I feel like in the "real world" we just let some days slip by without recognizing them or celebrating them in any way.
Even though Veteran's Day was on a Sunday this year, we are making sure this week to spend some time learning about it and celebrating all those who have served our country.
A couple weeks ago (Halloween to be exact) we made posters for the veteran's that live in a local home. Our entire school made over 100 posters so that each veteran could have one on their door.
Every morning on the announcements this week our principal reads a short summary of each branch of the military and plays their song/anthem. It's special for the kids to learn a little bit about them and to realize that each branch is different and does different things.
Yesterday we read a short play that told us the history of Veterans' Day and why we celebrate it. We then made flags shaped as hearts and had a coloring page as a fast finisher.
THANK YOU to all those who have served our country and helped to protect our freedoms!!
I had a friend tell me once that every family does Disney different. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that the Robins have spent endless hours planning family trips year after year and that by now, they probably know what they're talking about. Everyone in the family helped contribute to this post to give you all the ins and outs of doing Disney with a large family!
There were 10 of us in all with ages from 3-50 so we had to accommodate a variety of needs and wishes which I think helps makes this guide even better so you have all the information you need whether you're going with young kids, your whole family, or just a couples getaway. This guide is specific to Halloween at Disneyland, but some of the information applies to Disney regardless of when you go.
First of all, the decor was so fun! Orange leaves and pumpkins everywhere! The big pumpkin right at the start of Main Street is a great photo op.
MUST-EATS
I'm just going to list the ones we tried!
sour apple churro with caramel dipping sauce. You can find them at the churro cart in Tomorrowland. (bryan's fav)
cookies and cream funnel cake fries from DCA in California Adventure.
pumpkin spice beignets and churros in New Orleans Square
churro sundae from The Golden Horseshoe (this was my fav!!)
these amazing desserts were at the Carnation Cafe
All of these are only available at Halloweentime. And one we missed was the Maleficent Churro which could be found at the churro carts near the castle.
Other treats we love:
dole whips by the tiki room
mickey pretzels
mickey ice cream bars
caramel apples
the gray stuff at the rose tavern
This trip we ate at Goofy's Kitchen which was awesome for character dining. It is located inside the Disneyland Hotel. The food is buffet style and the lighting isn't awesome for pictures, but it was super fun for the kids to see Mickey and all his friends. Make sure you get reservations ahead of time.
We also ate at the Blue Bayou which I highly recommend. I'll talk more about that later because we did that in connection with seeing Fantasmic. Carnation Cafe on Main Street was good if you like American comfort food. Bryan's parents love it for their fried chicken. Bryan and I got the salmon there and it was pretty good! If you eat a late lunch or early dinner, it isn't crowded! Jazz Kitchen was awesome too! I loved this place because I just love southern food! We also got to eat outside and watch people in Downtown Disney which contributed to a great atmosphere along with their jazz music playing. We only had to wait about 30 min. to get in here for a late lunch.
**Most important thing to know is that you ARE allowed to bring food and drink into the park. The ones I listed above were our "one meal" in the park a day. Bring all the snacks and water you can because food is extremely over-priced in the park. But also treat yourself too because after all, you're on vacation!
MUST RIDE FOR ADULTS
Disneyland: Take advantage or rides they change for Halloween. Space mountain has a super creepy ghost that follows you throughout the ride! Haunted Mansion Holiday is also so fun because it is changed to incorporate Nightmare Before Christmas. If you go on Splash Mountain at the end of the day, they might let you stay on the log so you can go 3+ times
California Adventure: Guardians of the Galaxy is changed to be Monsters After Dark at nighttime. It's still the same ride, just a different story line. Don't miss Soarin' Over the World. Also, be sure to check out the new Incredicoaster on Pixar Pier. They've made a lot of fun changes over there!
For any big ride, you're going to want to get fast passes. Radiator Springs is a family favorite for all ages so I suggest getting fast passes for that ride first because they can stop giving them out by early afternoon depending on crowds.
MUST RIDE FOR KIDS
Disneyland: Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, It's a Small World, Teacups, Peter Pan
California Adventure: Mator's Tow Truck Jamboree, Radiator Springs, Ariel, Jumpin' Jellyfish, Midway Mania, Turtle Talk with Crush
Make sure you hit the Fantasyland rides either first thing in the morning, during a parade, or before the park closes. The lines will be significantly shorter when all the little ones are asleep or watching the parade.
I would also recommend bringing a small bag in addition to your stroller. That way you can put anything valuable (phone, camera, wallet, etc.) in the small bag to bring with you on rides, especially if someone isn't going to be watching the stroller. Then you can keep snacks, jackets, and water bottles in the stroller and not have to worry if something gets stolen.
If you're going with kids, it's important to know about the rider swap pass. Let's say one child isn't tall enough for a ride, but others are. You can do a rider swap where someone stays with the smaller child and then someone else can ride it again while you swap. It uses less fast passes to get the same amount of people on the ride.
FAST PASSES
Fast passes are a necessity for any Disney trip. There are little kiosks near the entrances to all of the rides where you put in your ticket and get a fast pass. Now, they are having you use your ticket to check into the ride when your fast pass time comes.
If crowds are really busy, I highly recommend buying the MAXPASS. It's $10 a day/person but it is 100% worth it if there's a lot of people. You can create groups so you can combine fast passes for everybody and get fast passes all together. You use your phone to get onto the rides and can get another one as soon as the time window for your current fast passes opens. It saves a ton of time because you don't have to run to each ride to get the fast pass and collect everybody's tickets. My favorite feature is that any picture you get taken by a Disney photographer or on a ride, you get to keep without paying any extra!!
You do all of this on the Disneyland App which also shows you wait times for rides, character locations and times they will be there, times for all the shows and parades, make dining reservations, and you can now order and pay for food from the app!! It also saves time and you get to pick the time window for it to be ready and then go pick up your food! It's genius. Especially if you're trying to sample all those yummy Halloween treats all over the parks!
MICKEY'S NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY
Ok, this is an ABSOLUTE MUST for Halloween time. It does cost extra on top of your park ticket but every penny is worth it. Here's why. They close the park at 6 to anyone who doesn't have a ticket to the party so it's kind of an exclusive deal! You get to wear costumes and when you enter the park, they give you a little candy bag. All throughout the park, there are candy stations where you get to go trick-or-treating. We went to Toontown first for the kids, but literally you could spend the entire night trick-or-treating which means that the line rides are so short!! So if you don't have kids who want to trick-or-treat longer you can spend the night riding your favorite rides multiple times. There are also an extra amount of characters throughout the park, including villains! I was also super impressed by the Halloween Parade. The Headless Horseman starts it off by riding throughout the park, ending on Main Street. The fireworks were also awesome filled with the best villain music Disney has to offer and an appearance from Zero, Jack Skellington's ghost dog. The atmosphere, music, candy, costumes, and lack of crowds makes for a wonderful evening of Halloween fun!
PARADES AND SHOWS
This totally depends on what time of year you're going. But for Halloweentime, you won't want to miss the parade and fireworks show I mentioned earlier. They don't happen just during the Halloween Party!
We also watched the Paint the Night Electrical Parade which was FANTASTIC! It's always nice to have someone sit and save a spot for the parade so if anyone is getting tired, sign them up for that! Make sure to bring blankets or jackets to put down to save spots. You're also going to want those because it can get chilly at night!
Also, check times for Fantasmic (Disneyland) or World of Color (California Adventure). If you want to create an experience out of it, place a reservation at the Blue Bayou before Fantasmic. You get an amazing three-course meal and then prime seating for the show. The food is delicious and the restaurant is placed right inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride so you get to enjoy your meal in the dark, kind of eerie ambiance of the ride.
If you need some down time, you can also go see the Frozen musical which they have playing in the theater at California Adventure right now as well as Turtle Talk with Crush, and Mickey's Magical Map.
HOTELS
Staying at one of the three Disneyland hotels can be pricey, but here's why you might consider doing it. First, you're so close to the parks!! I felt like we were really able to maximize our time because we weren't traveling long distances to get there, and it was super easy to go back and forth which was really useful to grab snacks, change clothes if needed, and for kids to take naps or when they needed to go to bed.
Also when you stay at a Disney hotel you get a Magic Morning, meaning you get into the park an hour before it opens. When you get a 5-day park hopper pass, you get one every day! That extra hour in the morning is GOLD to get on rides that get busy or just to enjoy being there without the mass of people.
I loved that we didn't have to go through long lines of security either. You don't have to rent a car because you're so close to everything you need and there is a shuttle that takes you to and from the airport. It's perfect.
If you're staying at the Grand Californian make sure you take in some pool time (if you're there for at least 5 days) and also spend some time by the fire in the lobby and listen to the beautiful pianists. It's quite magical!
If they just aren't in your price range, there are many hotels you can stay at that are still within walking distance of the parks. We stayed in one when we first arrived and that walk was not bad at all! Like 5 minutes tops. You can still get a magic morning if you buy at least a 3-day park hopper pass.
Buy your tickets ahead of time online, because who wants to stand in a line when you could be in the park playing!!
Here you'll find all my favorite things and get to read about my adventures with friends, family, and my third graders. I'm Mary Abigail and I'm so happy you're here!
