happy new year!

just wanted to say how glad i am that i have someone to kiss at midnight. too bad my husband will be at work.....now, you have to admit, that was a good one!! thankfully brandon will be joining me tonight in the celebrations. we haven't always been able to celebrate the new year together so i'm happy we can this year. so strange to think a whole decade has gone by. i'm not sure how i feel about that.

anyways, hope you all stay safe and are happy no matter where you are or who you're with.

day after x-mas shopping

it's a tradition. just like day after thanksgiving shopping is. we (brandon's mom and grandma) go each year to get the clearance stuff. this year brandon's aunt joined us as well. it didn't go as smoothly as it has in years past though...

we decided to meet at 4:30 am to get to jcpenney's by 5 when they opened. so, we got there and were immediately sent into a depressment. they hardly had anything and most of the sales were the same price as they were before christmas. i mean really. i need deep discounts people!!

so then we picked up brandon's aunt and headed to k-mart. they were supposed to open at 6, but we were there about 20 minutes early. we waited. but when 6 o'clock rolled around and no one was there except employees we got a lil worried. so, we walked to the door and there was a hand written sign saying "blah, blah, blah, we will open at 8 am on the 26th." what?!?! we were SURE the advertisments said 6 am. not much we could do about it though except move on. we then traveled to wal-mart. but they didn't open til 7. my frustrations and annoyances were elevating but it was mostly humorous since we got up so early to get the good stuff and no. one. was. open. grrr! we drove to target. same story. "we open at 7 am." it was about 6:30 am at this point and we were just baffled. we went on to another wal-mart and it happened to have opened at 6 am, so we were finally able to do some shopping. after about an hour there we went to target and got some more junk. finally some successes! see people, persistance pays off.

then brandon and boyd met us for breakfast and i went home and crashed after that. it's so exhausting shopping on little sleep.

christmas with the moens

the weekend before christmas my parents came up for a little pre-christmas celebration since we wouldn't be seeing them on christmas. this is what is left of that weekend besides our memories!

a pic of our christmas tree. it was the first year that we had gotten a real one. i remember getting them when i was growing up but brandon's family usually did the fake tree thing and so we have been doing the same the past several christmas' we've been together. however, brandon thought we should do the real thing this year. the house smelled of pine for awhile after we first put it up and i was thrilled. we took the tree down today since it was so dry and the needles were just falling off. it was great tree while it lasted.

maisy likes to get really comfortable for her naps. i swear she lays in the weirdest positions. she does this thing where she just lands and that's where she'll stay. it looks so uncomfortable sometimes but she'll stay there like it's the best spot. such a dork!

my mom and my mamma taking a nap together.

dad.

mom and krista.

krista is too cool for school when she pops the collar on her new bathrobe!

mamma got comfortable in my parent's present. i knew she'd chew on the bag and try to get into it. here she is, taking a rest, after having "conquered" the bag.

krista and i playing scattergories.

mom cheating at scattergories. the internet will not back up every answer you put down!!

on christmas eve, we went to brandon's annual family party. his great-grandmother and her sister's and brother's families all get together. there's usually over 100 people there. we do potluck, raffle items, games for the kids and just sit around and catch up with each other. brandon usually spends the entire time talking to a cousin about fantasy football stuff, but that's cool cuz better his cousin than me!

the next day we met brandon's family for breakfast at the truck stop. oh loverly truck stop, how they love thee. then, we went to his grandmother's after that for more fam time and gift exchanging. it was nice to hang out and there wasn't even that much drama! that evening we had his parents, grandma, aunt and uncle over for dinner. maisy was soooo excited to have company. she went from lap to lap playing and napping. she loves people. my oh my, how she loves her peeps. anyways, lots of family time and even a little of just us two with our furry babes. it was nice to just sit and relax and enjoy the company. i do have to admit that i'm glad it's all done. i mean i had a great time at the parties and shopping and decorating and doing all the extra things one does around the holidays but it's a bit much at times. now i can just focus on graduating in may!!! too weird to say but it's true. only four short months until i complete my master's degree. four. short. months. i'll just keep reminding myself of that...

PSA

today i was informed that if you take a glucose tablet while doing your weekly walmart shopping it becomes difficult to go to the golden corral afterwards. HOWEVER, if you eat a lucerna bar, while shopping, to increase your blood sugar levels you are then able to eat the buffet with ease. just food for thought (no pun intended). and no, lucerna did not pay for this post...although it would have been nice. merry christmas all!

grrrrr

i was going to post the best post i've every posted this morning BUT my computer will not load pics for some reason!! it's extremely frustrating. so, i give up...for now. i'll be back later.

grrrrr!

Thanksgiving Weekend and Early X-Mas Gifts

thanksgiving weekend was a long, family-filled and wonderful weekend. although, we definitely missed those that are near and far that we were not able to see. we started by hosting brandon's family for the traditional thanksgiving dinner. we had brandon's parents, grandmother, uncle and aunt, cousins, and his step-sister and her children. about 15 total. it seems that that is the max occupancy that can fit in our front room and small dining area! we had relatively little trouble which is what we were hoping for:) after they went home we went to his parents' home so that i could check out their sale ads and figure out what i was hoping to get on the black friday sales. then it was early to bed, cuz we were definitely going to rise early!!

my alarm went off at 2:45 am and i was at brandon's mom's by 3:30 am where i met her and brandon's grandma. we first stopped at walmart and it was absolutely INSANE! we got everything we wanted by a few lucky sightings. we also got into a few verbal altercations with people but my oh my i do not like to get confrontational so i just kind of stood there and didn't make eye contact. we went to a few other stores and did not get so lucky. but, all in all it was a success.

later that day brandon and i drove down to st. george to visit my family. krista was already there so, i knew that meant there would be no stuffing left! we hung out and did some more shopping and eating. on saturday night some of us went out to tuacahn to see the festival of lights. it was pretty cool so, of course, i took some pics:

mom and krista.

i thought this pic looked really cool cuz the only thing in focus is their faces.

us four on the train that took us on a tour of tuacahn (for those of you who don't know, it's an outdoor amphitheater where they have plays/musicals/concerts near st. george)

i love taking pics in these things!! me as the shepherd, mom as the sheep, and krista as the camel. at this point brandon was willing to take pics just not be in any of them!

krista, mom and me in front of the tree they used in their production of Annie that we went to see about 6 weeks earlier.

the live nativity complete with camel, wisemen, mary, joseph and baby jesus. very cool thing to see as they read the christmas story.

at 7 am sunday morning we made the trek back to salt lake so we could be home in time to watch football. krista and i decided to make a visit to the farm where brandon's uncle had 3 labrador puppies. we had been going out once in awhile to visit and coddle the lil guys. after returning i went to take a nap (7 am wake ups are just not my thing!!), brandon interrupted me before i could get to sleep. he had one of the pups in his arms. i wasn't sure what was going on. he said it was an early christmas present! i was completely shocked and not sure what to say or do. totally unexpected since we had had about three conversations about why we DON'T want a puppy in the past month. she was terrified. i coddled her and brought her outside to "make" and then gave her a bath. life on a farm is stinky and dirty! after she smelled a bit better we cuddled the rest of the day. it was all down hill after that!!! after about 24 hours she turned into a chewing, nipping, barking, pooping, cat chasing maniac! we are finally getting used to her and her to us. after reading from "puppies for dummies" we have learned some ways to interact with her to thwart all her bad habits. she has only gone potty in the house twice so far, which we are really excited about considering she was about 8 weeks old when we brought her home and on the farm she could potty whereever and whenever she needed to.

anyways, here are some pics of her first couple of weeks:

she enjoys a good game of tug-o-war.

here she is chewing again.

cuddles with her auntie:)

she won't be able to fit under that chair for long!

a very upset and angry older sister! mostly kidding, mamma has gotten somewhat used to having the dog around. we try hard to still give mamma love when she asks for it. she has gotten close to the dog several times for a few seconds without hissing or running away. although now that the dog is super hyper, mamma gets chased to all the corners of the house. that makes her very angry! poor mamma, i'm surprised at how well she is handling the dog. brandon admitted though having the dog makes the cat look more chubby!

i know you all are wondering about her name (well, at least those of you who don't already know it). after careful consideration, i have chosen Maisy. it seems no one else likes it but me but i'm okay with that considering she is technically my lil gurl. so, everyone meet maisy, our newest family member. i guess i need to update the little picture at the bottom of the blog now....

and, i promise, i'm going to be a better blogger who updates waaaaay more often!

girls weekend

we had girls weekend in st. george because "annie the musical" was being performed at tuacahn. i absolutely love annie and i knew months before that i would HAVE to go. since brandon absolutely does NOT love annie, i also knew it would be a girls thing. i normally go with my bestie, anne to all the plays at PMT so i knew she'd be down. we recruited my sister too. we drove down on a thursday after work and since it was later when we got to my parents' house we just hung out. on friday anne and i went shopping at the outlet mall and some other places. after that, all three of us went to get pedi's at the spa. it was so fun being pampered and chit-chatting. i wondered (out loud:), "i don't know why we don't do this more often!" anyways, then we just chilled out until we went to tuacahn. one of my mom's friends came too. tuacahn is sooo beautiful. it's an outdoor amphitheater nestled in a cove between red rock mountains. the scenery is gorgeous. such a wonderful atmosphere. i wish we had gotten there early enough to take some pics, next time for sure. anyways, we drove back to salt lake the next day cuz we all had plans for saturday night (brandon and i went to wendover to see rodney carrington perform. it was hilarious!). so, here are the pics i did take:

krista had an owwie (spelling??) on her nose. she told me it was okay to post this pic on my blog but NOT facebook. at least now i've got some blackmail.

love these things that you stick your head through! didn't realize i was the dog though. oh well, krista is the old man.

waiting in the will call line, you know, the one that took FOREVER!!

all in all it was a fun trip and i'm excited for next years trip to see "cats." anyone else???

our lil' mamma

most of you know how much i love my catty, mamma. but, for those of you who've never met her, i'm going to dedicate this post to her so you can get to know her. we adopted her in may 2005. someone found her in a box with her siblings in the parking lot of the furniture store i worked at. i was already considering a cat at the time and thought it was the perfect opportunity. they brought her to me while i was working and i spent most of the rest of my shift trying to keep her from jumping out of the box she was in and running away. she cried the whole way home.

we stopped at a pet shop to get all the supplies we would need and the lady said she was probably only 4 weeks old and to make sure she ate and poohed regularly. and that's exactly what i did. i was such a good, diligent mamma to my baby. i would wet the food and mash it up for her to eat and i would dip my finger into the water so she would drink. she wouldn't use a bottle or drink out of a bowl (she still won't drink out of her bowl--she insists on fresh tap water!), she had to lick it off my finger. then i would take her to her potty house so she could learn that is where she needs to let the magic happen. except she wasn't going number 2! i was so worried. i did what the lady suggested to stimulate her lil bum but she just wouldn't make. finally, brandon advised i just let her be and she will pooh on her own time. well, after about a day she did. i was so excited it was unreal! she's been eating and poohing ever since:)

eventually she became old enough to do most of her own care which was a relief. but i miss her being so little. she's been through about 5 names and i have a lot of nicknames for her, like beaner, lil miss, missy mamma, and lovee smiffs. mamma seems to fit her though and it has stuck. she also enjoys being sung too; which i will do occasionally, especially when no one is around! her favorite songs are "loving you" by minnie ripperton and "oh, donna" by ritchie valens (only replace all of the 'donna's with 'mamma's). of course she always does the cutest things. there are too many to blog about now. but, i thought i'd post some of her recent pics so you can see how beautiful she is:)

here she is napping (what she does best!) on my lap. she's become such a lap kitty lately. as you can see in the next picture she has found a great couch buddy in her auntie krista! she always gets too many loves from krista but she doesn't mind!

too freakin cute!

ok, i think that's enough doting. until next time...

Throlson's SL,UT Visit

Okay, okay so I know this is really really late considering they came for a visit in early August but, better late than never! My grandma, Marilyn, my aunt, Cindy and my aunt, Amy came to stay at our house for an extended weekend over my birthday. They hadn't been to Salt Lake since 1975 so we went all over the city to sightsee. Here are some of the highlights:

Cindy was really impressed by the fountain that had a foot pedal to start the water. It was even more interesting that the water came out really warm. Even after running it for awhile it was still warm. Anyways, we had to take a picture of her using the fountain. This pic ended up saving my grandma's camera from being lost forever. While we were visiting the LDS Temple, she misplaced her camera. We looked and looked all over for it to no avail. Finally I just left my name and number to lost and found and we left. The next day, someone called saying they found a camera matching the description but they wanted me to describe the pictures on it to verify that it was ours. I just told them there are some of my "crazy" aunt using the water fountain because she thought it was so neat. Yup, it was the right camera. Thankfully, we went to get it. I decided there probably wasn't a better place to lose it at.

View from Joseph Smith Memorial Building. So beautiful!

Great chair in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

My aunt, Cindy, has a "thing" for capital buildings.

Dinner at the Mayan.

Outside the Mayan. It was cold and rainy that night. Don't you just love Amy's wind blown hair? It reminds me of the Little Mermaid when she is sitting on top of the rock and her hair is blowing.

Browsing the Cracker Barrel shop. In case you can't really tell I have a spider hat on.

The giant hamburger from The Counter. I had never been there before but it was a fun place to eat. You fill out your own menu and can put anything in your wildest dreams on top of a burger. By the way, Grandma had to eat it in pieces!

Cindy and I at The Counter.

Cindy and Amy in the Salt Lake.

Mamma found a nice quiet place to sleep. She got used to all the company pretty quickly but they made her tired!

Krista mixing cobbler for the dutch oven at my birthday barbeque.

Cute cake! OMG, I'm a quarter of a century old now!!

Last day. Goofing off at the park before they all headed home.

I'm so glad they are as crazy (if not crazier!) about taking pictures as I am. Seems like we ate a lot since most of the pics are at or around restaurants! There were soo many to choose from but I think I hit all the highlights. We all had a great time and I was so glad they could make the trek. Thanks again you guys!

5 years ago today...

On 10-02-04, us two became one...

We were married at a local hotel on 10/02/04 at 1 pm. It's strange how fast that moment passes a person by. It was pretty much a blur. All that planning and prepping for, what seemed like, eternity was over in just a few short hours. My face hurt all night from smiling so much that day. I wanted to share a few pics although most of you have already seen them...

i now pronounce you: mr. and mrs. brandon and penelope scow. true, but funny story about the ceremony: the officiator called brandon, "roger" because we used the same format as my uncle roger's wedding. aaron, the officiator, was reading it verbatim and read roger instead of remembering that he was talking to brandon. i don't think many people noticed but he apologized profusely afterwards. it was more funny than anything else.

here we are cutting the cake. for those you wondering we did not attack each other with the cake. brandon was waiting for it though. he told me he would hunt me down if i got any on him.

one of my favorite pics of us on that day.

quick recap of the last 5 years...

• we adopted our baby, mamma (a part grey tabby, part calico and a small part dog, kitty:)
• we moved from ogden to salt lake
• i graduated with a bachelor's degree in psych and am in my 3rd (and final!!) year as a master's student
• brandon has worked tirelessly at remodeling our last home and is now working on our current home

we have strengthened ties between family and friends which we have found to be the most important thing to us. we've loved, we've fought, we've cried (well mostly i have cuz i'm a self-proclaimed "crier":), we've had good days and bad. we've shared major losses and gains with each other, our hopes and dreams, and we are looking forward to many more years and milestones together. here's to us and our future and all those who play parts in our lives, we couldn't do it without you and your support.

awwww, how tender!!

le cirque

last night, dorie and boyd (brandon's parents) invited us to le cirque. i was really excited because i haven't been to the circus since i was a lil chitlin. brandon was less than excited but a good sport. what's crazy is that boyd had never been, in his whole, entire life! he was clapping and cheering louder than the kids. i loved seeing the animals perform (even though i felt bad for them:( and all the acrobatics. i almost had to turn away on some of the stunts because i just wasn't sure they could do it. they could. best part: when the elephants did hand stands!! omg, it blew my mind. my mouth dropped. the puppies were super cute and the tigers seemed a lil like crabby patty's but they obeyed the whip...for the most part. one of them even hopped on his hind legs. being at the circus definitely took me back to my childhood. brandon even said it was better than he thought it would be.

so, boyd works at a local media broadcasting company and he gave us a private tour at 10 pm, saturday night. it was awesome. he showed us all the sets and where the dj's sit for their radio shows. we watched the 10 o'clock news from above the set. it was so crazy to see the anchors down at the desk checking the mirror during every commercial break, constantly touching their faces to make sure everything was perfect and they even fist-bumped before they went on. i'm not sure why but it was really cool to watch. it was much more entertaining than the news really is on tv. i think i'd watch more of it if i could see the "behind the scenes" every time. after that we went onto the roof and had a great view of all the city lights. it was really pretty...if only i had my camera [insert big sigh here].

randoms for july and august...

i just unloaded my camera and had a bunch of random things. thought i'd share them all with you, my loverly readers.

we stopped at the bottom of wolf creek for a ride before we went out to tabiona for the 24th of july (a utah holiday). it was one of the worst rides we have been on but i was able to take some nice pictures. the ride sucked cuz it was sooo rocky and there were huge boulders on the trail. at one point i made brandon take the bikes up and i just hiked up. i was pretty sure i would have crashed and burned-HARD! then the chain broke on his bike and i had to tow him/push him back down. but, we lived to tell the tale.

pretty weeds!

back side of tabby mountain. first time i'd been all the way back there. it was really cool because it was just a huge canyon. one time we stopped to shoot a bit when brandon's cousin shot into someone's camp. needless to say they freaked and we got out of there fast. good thing no one was hurt!

another shot of tabby's finer side.

brandon and tasha found some mushrooms. this pic was taken before they realized the shroom was full of maggots. yuck!

brandon's finer side:)

sunset from our backyard. the pic just doesn't do it justice, it was incredible.

mamma invited all her friends for dinner...well, she wishes she could have had them for dinner!

one day when i was out back mowing i ran into this little guy. of course i stopped the mower and moved him to a safe place, but now before i took his picture. i like to call him sven olafson.

that all folks!