Mountains! Snow! Christmas Break!

...is heaven! Today I went to the gym, ran errands, and cleaned my house IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY. It's seriously amazing what I can get done in the middle of the day when I don't have a full time job! Haha. Our christmas break ends on Tuesday (and we got out on the 22nd, don't even get me started). I am already dreading having to go back to teaching. I love my kiddos and my job, but this whole not-working thing is seriously amazing. And I can already feel that the break was not long enough!

Our Christmas was pretty low-key, but it was a great day spent with my in-laws. I tried really hard to focus on the "reason for the season" this year, so gifts were not over-the-top, but I was impressed with what I got T-Money with our budget. I am so grateful that I was able to sing in church on Christmas Sunday and to participate in so many fun, festive Christmas activities over the month of December so that I could focus on our Savior and his birth. I promised myself that is something that I would do and I stuck to it. The whole Christmas season seemed so much better! This whole week I have been catching up with my life: working out twice a day, cleaning, and running errands. It hasn't been super exciting, but it has been productive and slow-paced, which is so nice for a change. T has had to work all week so it's pretty much been me and Saylor, my sidekick, doing things. And I've loved it!!!

I have been up in the canyons hiking in the snow a few times this week to change my workouts around (so that I'm not always just as the gym! ha). Plus, watching Saylor run in the snow might be the cutest thing in the world. If you don't have a dog, you don't understand. I caught some absolutely gorgeous photos while on some of my hikes. It is freeeeezing up in the canyons, but I stayed bundled up and tried to enjoy the outdoors. I will show you those amazing sites and photos below. As always, please do not take without permission. 

Over the break, I:
-read three books. Man alive, am I nerd, or what?
-deep cleaned my house (like doors, baseboards, everything).
-Did about 7 loads of laundry. Yikes.
-hiked in the canyons multiple times. So gorgeous!
-went to the gym. A lot.
-slept. A lot.
-saw movies (my fav) and watched Netflix (also my fav).
-ran a gazillion errands.
-drank a lot of sodalicious (guilty).
-saw grandparents and cousins and family members all over Utah.
-Took down Christmas decor (and cried while doing it. Always makes me sad).
-Went to a New Years Eve Casino night.
-Caught up with friends.
-cuddled with Saylor. A lot.

If you follow me on Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter, you may have already known these things, but it's fine. Whatever. (@sierrasview for all).

Without further ado, here is WINTER IN NORTHERN UTAH. AS THE YOUTH WOULD SAY, "I JUST CAN'T EVEN." Also, just take a moment and look at that stinkin' adorable dog. I'm obsessed with her. I think we all knew that though. Note: these were all taken on different days, hence the different lighting.

DO YOU SEE THE PEOPLE?! Gah! 

The lighting on this day was ~perfect. 

Love the edit on this one, too. 

And the Saylor photo shoot starts NOW...

Mom. Stop. 

Had to edit this one a little different. Love the look of this. 

look at my cute house in the snow!!!! I'm obsessed. 

Utah. You are cold, but, MAN you're beautiful.
Wish all the teachers luck as they endeavor back to school this week. Gahhhhhhhh.

Winter Break and How I Realized That I Like My Life.

Portland. Sigh. So pretty. 

My family now has 21 people in it. That is a whole lot of people. This is what happens when you are the youngest of five children, and all of your siblings are married/have children. Those Mormons, I tell ya. T Money and I went home to Oregon for Winter Break and spent time with all of these hilarious, crazy, ridiculously good looking people.

I won't beat around the bush: being home was hard. I love Portland. I love the Northwest. I love the air that I breathe when I get off of the airplane. I love the green trees and the long walks that I get to take with my mother. I love the Oregon Coast and Mt. Hood. I love the memories that come back when I am there. But, it's just hard. I realized the other day that it marked seven years since I had moved to Utah. I now officially call Utah home. Which is weird. I love Utah. I love the mountains and the weather and my life here. My life is HERE. And I think that was part of the problem. When I was in Oregon, it wasn't my home.  I didn't have my adorable brick home and my own bed; I missed my doggy because she wasn't with us. I missed my own separate LIFE. I felt micro managed by my parents and fights happened between sisters. It was hard.


But, it wasn't all bad. I love being around family.  I loved staying up until 3 AM playing Cards Against Humanity with my siblings and laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants. I loved going on walks with my mom in the forests. It's a catch-22. I want to be around my nieces and nephews and brothers and sisters. I don't live near most of my family so it is fun to catch up, but then I am also reminded how different I am from them. While lying there one night, I remember thinking: "We were all raised by the same people?" It's almost like you didn't know it in some regard. Maybe I am like my nephew, Dane, when he says "I Don't like nobody." See the hilarious video here. 


I love my family. I am grateful for their example and love. Every family has their dysfunction. But, I guess, what I'm trying to say, is that I love my life. I like what I do day in and day out. And I like doing it in my own way. I don't like being told what to do or not do or to be judged so harshly by those around me.

I am proud of who I am, despite the challenges that I am faced with, physically and financially and emotionally. I struggle every day. I am not perfect. I am an adult when I am on my own and in my life. I feel like a teenager when I am with my whole family; I revert back to being the youngest child. Does that make sense?

Anywho, this post is all over the place. I apologize.
Overview: I love my life. I love visiting Oregon. Families are wonderful and complicated all at the same time. All is well.

While in Oregon, T Money and I took a mini escape to Cannon Beach, one of my favorite places. It was cold, rainy and gross in Portland, but the beach was BEAUTIFUL and not windy at all, which made it completely splendid. It was cold, but not near as cold as the city. I walked along the beach and saw all of the dogs and missed my Saylor girl. I had my hot cocoa and dreamed of living along the Oregon Coast. It was a perfect day and I couldn't stop taking pictures, as I'm sure you all saw from my Instagram last week.

My nieces and nephews made me laugh a whole lot. It is so fun to celebrate Christmas with the excitement of little children. And it helps that they are all so freaking adorable.

Papa is slightly obsessed with my niece, Wembley. She is the FUNNIEST and cutest little girl. 

Nephew. All of the heart eyes. 

Tanner was a huge hit with my sisters' boys. They wouldn't leave him alone. He's definitely the favorite. So not fair. 

And then, there are just pretty pictures of Oregon (so gorgeous!).

Meanwhile, my brother in law in Utah sends me this photo of Saylor loving her life in the million feet of snow. Ha! 

I love the open fields and wide open spaces in the outskirts of Portland. Lots of beautiful land! 

But I also love downtown Portland. Such a historic, beautiful, clean city. 

Winter Break was good. And now I want it back. I am waking up every morning with a horrible cold that my husband and students gave to me....welcome back to reality. This is a hard week, the first week back after Winter Break. Its cold, dreary, everyone's tired and sick and it's just one of those months. But we can do it! I got this, guys.
Happy January. Here comes a month of beautiful snow, and hopefully a lot of skiing (see, I turned that around made it positive. Boom.)