Happy Christmas Eve!

I could not pass the opportunity of buying my nephewpuppy a duck for Christmas. Divot has been my friend since he got here. I guess sneaking him snacks and taking him for a walk makes us easy friends. If only real live friends were this easy to make! I will give you snacks and I do love walks...come on people! I saw this duck while shopping with Marla in Wausau, but talked myself out of it. When I went to the store with nephew, Elijah, today I could not walk away from it. I just loved it so much...it actually quacks. So fun. Divot was a very happy puppy after recieving it.

We all joined my mother at her church for the Christmas meeting today. It was very pleasant! We then came home and had a great dinner and opened presents. My mother over bought for me this year! I got some great goods that I am sure you will hear all about when I make some list of all the things I am thankful for. They are fantastic. One of the things is this awesome winter hat with ear flaps. How does my mother know that I was looking for a hat with flaps. She has mother E.S.P!

It was a great day with family. I am surrounded by love and warmth. I have so much to be thankful for! :) Enjoy the fun video of Divot and the pics of the family. We are awesome!(And very humble too!)

Alice's 12 Days of Christmas

You all know the fun song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," here are the things that would be included in my Twelve Days of Christmas:

12 Family members and friends gathered.
11 days of sleeping in.
10 trips up and down the stairs to try and figure out how to get my dad's present working.
9 different restaurants to eat in.
8 pictures of the different foods I ate
7 times driving my seester's VW Beetle
6 people to have buy presents
5 walks with Divot(Andi's(seester)dog)
4 trips to Wausau to visit friends
3 handfuls of chocolate covered pecans
2 new "date" shirts
1 Merry Christmas

I had a hard time writing that list. I hope it was good enough to be enjoyed by you. I hope you are ready for the holiday. My shopping is done but not all the wrapping. We WILL have a white Christmas. It is supposed to snow tomorrow!

Have I mentioned that I hate coats? I miss running around Provo in my sweatshirt. I do have to admit that the pink coat is quite stunning and I am very thankful I brought it because it is COLD!

Those pics are of me and Marla out on the town the other night. It was nostalgic to go back to Sam's Pizza. I love that place. I was a waitress there for about four years. The garlic bread pic will have to suffice because I can't get my phone to send the pizza one. The other pics are from Finnegan's, a popular ice cream place in Wausau. YUM!

Today, I just hung out with the family. My sister is here with my niece, Rebecca. It is fun to have bonding time with them. Oh, Divot, their dog is also here. He is my pal. We went on a great walk today. It was cold but fun. He makes me want to get a dog!

We also met some friends for dinner. It was Taco's at Pat's Tavern. Unfortunately, okay fortunately, we were unable to eat on the patio. Man, those summer memories are still fresh and are missed as well. This place is entirely different in the winter. My fishing buddy, Don, came to eat with us. He is still as hilarious as always. He wanted me to go paint the town red with him, but I didn't have the energy. Funny how the 32 year old doesn't have the energy and the seventy something year old does.

Weird that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Crazy. Enjoy!

False Advertising.

This post may have a lot to do with push up bras, just to warn you!

My dating dilemma these days is the debate that goes on in my head about how much I should really get "gussied" up and how much I should just be myself. For those of you who don't know me well(I am pretty famous in the blog world so there may be readers who haven't met me but read this fab blog. Btw that was laced with sarcasm!). My typical wardrobe consists of jeans, a t-shirt, tennis shoes and a baseball cap. Usually, this is not considered proper dating attire. So, on the leap years when I actually have a date, I go shopping and buy clothes that aren't typically what I wear. Hence, the dilemma in my head. Am I really showing the guy taking me out what he is really getting? Nope. This is false advertising. Companies can get sued for doing this kind of stuff in their advertising. How am I any different? I guess dating is pretty much all about false advertising. You go out and spend lots of money in order to get to "know" somebody and you really won't know them until you've lived with them for a year or so.(and that was not a plug for living with somebody before marrying them. I am totally opposed to that as well!) Dating is false advertising.

When I was shopping for my newest set of dating clothes on a trip to Las Vegas about a month ago, my good friend, Alyssa, thought I should try wearing a push-up bra. I thought she was crazy and the idea was totally out of my comfort zone, but Alyssa has mad convincing skills and before I knew it I was wearing said bra and trying on shirts. I thought Alyssa was going to burst with excitement while she waited to check out my newly formed chest. I found this kind o humorous that one of my friends really wanted to check me out. When I stepped out of the dressing stall, Alyssa was so excited she had to take a picture of me. That is when I mentioned that I totally thought wearing a push-up was totally false advertising. Seriously, he would think I have this amazing bust, but indeed it really isn't that impressive. Alyssa said that all women do it and that guys really don't care that it is false advertising. I was convinced enough to buy one that day and a week later I bought another one. GO me!

The topic of false advertising came up again in conversation at Burger Friday a few days ago, which was about two hours before my second date with Dave. Anyway, I brought up the fact that I was debating about just wearing a t-shirt and how I thought that by dressing up and getting all "gussied" I was guilty of false advertising and somehow the subject again turned to push-up bras.

Me: I really think that all this stuff I do, is false advertising. I wear nicer clothes and do my hair and make up, and wear these new bras! The Alice guys get on dates is totally not the real Alice.
Janette: Just wear a t-shirt and jeans. Be you.
Me: So, I should also not wear my newly acquired push-up bra either?
(short pause)
Me: See, it is a touchy subject. Seriously, what a guys sees when you are wearing one of those is just not what he really gets.
Jeff: Alice, it is all about presentation. If I want a steak, and it comes on a plain white plate with no decor, it is still a good steak. But if that steak happens to come on a colorful plate, with garnish lettuce it looks a lot better and I am more excited about it. It is still the same steak but I am more excited! Presentation is everything!

So there you have it. Presentation is everything and I wore the bra and a dressier t-shirt and a nice necklace and jeans. The jury is still out on whether date three will happen. Some men have thicker onion shells to peel through. It may take five years before I really know what Dave truly is like. Come on Dave, it is all about presentation...you should be selling yourself at this time! :) Good thing Dave doesn't read this blog!

Home Sweet Home....via Las Vegas!

Morgan, Henry and Derek at Raising Canes.
Spencer and I. We're Buds!
Oliver loves cups on his head. Silly Kid!

Home again, Home again! I have arrived in the booming metropolis of Rhinelander, WI. (Home of the World Championship Ice Fishing Contest.) It is nice to be here. My parents warmly welcomed me at the airport long past their own bedtimes. They really do love me, don't they?

I got to see five of my favorite people as I had a three hour layover in Vegas. The Hageys came and picked me up from the airport and took me to Raising Canes(They have the best chicken fingers on the planet!). It was a fun side adventure. I always forget that I am the aunt figure and that whatever I say and do will be copied by these little boys. Today it was putting cold drinks on their bellies and putting that same cold drink on the baby's head. For some reason, Oliver loved it. It was a very short meeting but it was nice to see them for an hour and have lunch with them. Spencer was very sad when I left and promply started crying when we got to the airport and I was getting out of the van. He kept saying:"I miss you, Alice!" It is good to be loved by little people! Thanks Hageys!

It was a long day of traveling. I was on three different planes today and the total travel time was eleven hours. It is worth it to be here in 18 degree weather and 13 inches of snow. It is a pretty place, from the inside of our house! I am not looking forward to hiking to church tomorrow. Ah, the Northwoods.

Well, it is late and I need to sleep. It is good to be home.

Leaving on A Jet Plane....

It is midnight. I have to be up at 7:20 to get ready to drive to SLC and then fly out. I am tired. I should be sleeping but instead, I am packing!

Today was a good day. It was fun to have a play day at school. The highlight was playing some of the girls from our school at basketball. We beat them and that is what matters right? It was fun to just be on the court and playing with them.

After the kids left, we had and all out marshmallow war. One of the teachers gave each of us a decorated piece of pvc pipe and some mini-marshmallows. These are pretty fun marshmallow shooters. We had a blast hitting each other. I am sure the janitor hated us for it but it sure was a fun thing.

We then went to Red Robin for Burger Friday and it was way fun. I work with amazing people and hanging out with them is totally fun! I got a million hugs today and I can just feel the love I had around me and that is awesome!

I saw the movie The Blindside today and it was amazing. Check the movie blog for the review. It may be a day or so until I do the review though!

I must now go to sleep so I can be a happy traveler tomorrow! :) Cheers!