So Daniel...Tell me about yourself...

Lately, I have added a skill to my repertoire...interviewing. 

Seriously, I can conduct a mean interview. 

Dan is in the midst of interview season for summer internships and I have been assigned as his official interview trainer. We came up with a huge list of questions from both personal experience and research, and my job is to grill him every chance we get. 

I even practiced with him on our vacation to Hawaii this summer in preparation for the Treasury interviews...HAWAII...am I an awesome wife or what?

Dan has had some great feedback from his resume lately which has led to some great interviews. As I type, he is in New York about to sit for final round interviews for a major bank. 

It must be nice to be flown to New York City and put up in a nice hotel in Times Square...just saying. 

Anyway, I digress. 

Although Dan is in New York, there is no rest for the official interviewer. We just finished a long, fast pitch practice interview session over the phone. It's crunch time...and he did great. 

He's going to rock his interview...and that's coming from the professional interviewer, not the wife.

In other news, this past weekend we took off to a cabin in Sundance with our friend's Dan, Kelsey, and Jason. It was such a great weekend of relaxation. The boys could be found watching the NFL playoffs, and Kelsey and I could be found reading and cooking some yummy meals! We all made sure to rendezvous in the hot tub daily as well. Thanks Jason for hooking us up!

The family of friends that eats together stays together...if this rings true we will be friends for a REALLY long time...Cooking dinner at the cabin

Our "gourmet" meal we were quite proud of

Our charming little cabin in the woods...

Our view of the Sundance Slopes

Last days in DC, Road Trippin, Christmas, 2012...OH MY!

Well to say that they last month or so has been busy would be an understatement. However, it has been filled with loads of good times with our family and friends and what more can you ask for?

So I'll start the catch up with a few pics of Dan and I's last days in DC...

World War Two Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Natural History Museum

The White House

Dan in front of where he works everyday, The United States Treasury

This facility was right across the street from where we lived...it had to be documented

On my last night in DC we went to the Festival of Lights at the Temple in DC. As you can see it was absolutely beautiful and was a wonderful way to get in the Chrs

I can't believe our time in DC has come and gone so quickly. We loved being in our Nation's Capital, and Dan LOVED LOVED his internship at the Treasury. He misses it and is not too thrilled to be back in classes at BYU. 

After I left DC I spent some time in SC with my family. We did a little pre-Christmas Christmas dinner and exchanged presents. I love being home with my family and am really going to miss them being just a 8 hour drive away. 

I also got to spend some time with my besties which is always much needed and so much fun. We hit up Los Arcos and had a fun cookie exchange at Kristin's house. I love those girls!

Then it was time to pack up our U-Haul trailor and head west! Dan had to keep working until the day before Christmas so my partners in crime for this move were my Dad and Caroline. I am SO SO grateful for their help, support, and companionship on the LONG trip from SC to AZ. We had fun checking out all the states we drove through, chatted, listened to books on tape, and hit up the Grand Canyon!

We finally made it to Dan's Parent's house in Chandler AZ. We had a great night with them eating some AZ BBQ, checking out the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple, and eating some famous cazookies!

I spend the next couple of days with Dan's Fam getting ready for Christmas and waiting for Dan to get in town. He got in the day before Christmas Eve and then it really felt like Christmas. We went and saw A Christmas Carol and it was so much fun. On Christmas Eve we spend the day wrapping, baking for our bake off that evening, and went to see Sherlock Holmes. 

That night Dan's family incorporated traditions from Kendall and I's family. Kendall's family eats Spaghetti on Christmas Eve and mine has a bake-off! We did both and had so much fun!

 Not to brag or anything but I totally won the bake-off with my chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. Or as Rob so affectionately dubbed them "Dog Poop Cupcakes". He is right...my icing job left much to be desired.

After our bake-off we kept up the Gould family tradition of watching Luke 2 and Christmas Vacation. It was a nice way to wrap up our evening.

On Christmas morning we had church so we decided to wait until after Church to open presents. I actually loved this because it was a literal interpretation of our priorities on Christmas. It was wonderful to celebrate our Savior first, and then get to the presents.

Christmas 2011 was a great one. It was my first Christmas away from home, but I am so lucky to have received additional family that I love and enjoy spending time with.

Dan had to go back to DC the day after Christmas and I had to work from their house in AZ. We spend out afternoons shopping and getting pampered so it was a great week. Dan got back on New Years Eve and we spent it with his family eating junk food and playing card games. We rang in 2012 and went STRAIGHT to bed....haha!

The next day Dan and I took off to drive our stuff from AZ to UT and here we are! It is so fun to be back in familiar Provo. Dan is stunned that he still has school left, but hopefully the shock will wear off. We are enjoying spending our time with friends and enjoying the beauty of the Mountains.

2011 was such a busy, crazy year, but it came with more blessings than we can count. Here's to an even better 2012!

Remembering our Savior at Christmas

"There is no better time than this very Christmas season for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus Christ. It is the time to love the Lord our God with all our heart and our neighbors as ourselves. This joyful season will bring to each of us a measure of happiness that corresponds to the degree in which we have turned our minds, feelings and actions to the spirit of Christmas.

May this Christmas season be a time of prayers for peace, for the preservation of free principles, and for the protection of those who are far from us. Let it be a time of forgetting self and finding time for others. Let it be a time for discarding the meaningless and for stressing true values. Let it be a time of peace because we have found peace in His teachings.

We testify of the living reality of our Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ. He is indeed "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6)."

- The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

I only have a week left...

I can't believe it but I am only in DC for one more week. This Sunday I am loading up our car with all of our stuff, minus what Dan will need to survive for about two weeks, and heading out on part one of a three part move to Utah.

Last week was pretty much a wash for me as I had the cold from you know where. I am glad to say I'm feeling much better today and ready to take on this move!

Part one.

I am driving to my parent's in SC to spend five days with them and pick up the rest of Dan and I's belongings. My parents have been nice enough to let us use their garage as a storage unit.

Part two.

My dad and Caroline will accompany me on a four day drive across the country will all of our stuff to Arizona. We are going to stop by the grand canyon on the way. My dad and Carrie will fly home from AZ, and I will stay with Dan's parents for about a week and a half. Dan will fly in Thursday for Christmas but has to go back to DC on Monday :(.  I will hang out in AZ the week after Christmas and work. Then Dan comes back from DC for good on the 31st.

Part 3.

Dan and I drive our belongings up to Utah on Jan 2nd! I can't believe we have been gone for a whole year! We are excited to get back to Utah and be with friends and family.

This week will be full of working, packing, and trying to take in all of my fave parts of DC one last time! We have been so blessed to be here and I can't believe it's already time for me to say good bye!

Let my farewell DC week begin!

Oh Christmas Tree

Sometimes I find that the simplest things can spark some of my favorite memories and make me feel extremely sentimental. Sometimes those memories are completely unrelated, but they still come from the same simple thing. 

That simple thing at the moment is our wonderful Christmas Tree. 

 Some of you may look at this tree and think that it's not much to write home about but I completely disagree. I am obsessed with Christmas. There is not one part of it I don't like. I love the reason we celebrate, I love our Savior, I love giving gifts, I'll even admit I love getting gifts, I love singing carols, I love the James Island Festival of Lights, I love the family aspect, and I REALLY love Christmas decorations. 


I mean I REALLY love them. I CAN'T WAIT to deck my halls one day. However, that day is not quite here. 


Dan and I are moving a lot, I have packed our belongings so many times that I have even convinced myself it is not worth it to buy Christmas decorations, for the mere fact that I don't want another box to carry around. 


Last year, I did approve of buying lights and ornaments and going for a real tree. Which leads me to the first memory that our little tree this year reminds me of.


Our first tree was so fabulous. Maybe it was decorated with dollar ornaments from Wal-Mart but it was ours. I absolutely loved curling up in our first apartment together and plugging in our tree. 

Awww the memories. 


The BEST part of that memory is putting the tree up. We went and picked it out at the local tree lot then brought it home, which required Dan carrying it up the outside stairs covered in snow. Haha those of you who know Dan know he loved that. So then comes our attempt at putting the tree in its stand. I held the tree up while Dan crawled under it to tighten the little screw things. Well I got distracted looking out the window at the snow and kind of dropped the tree.....on Dan. Then I proceeded to laugh my behind off. Dan didn't find it that funny until a few minutes later. 


I LOVE that memory. How much better does a first Christmas tree story get than that?


It doesn't. 


I've looked everywhere for a picture of that darn tree and can't find it. But I have a mental picture that probably makes it look way better than it did in reality anyway. 


Ok now back to this year's tree. We are in DC right now in a 500 square foot apartment. There is not even room for a small fake table top tree. And I wouldn't get one b/c I don't want to haul it around with me. And I'm moving all of our stuff out west on December 11th. Not worth it. 

BUT I LOVE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS ESPECIALLY TREES!


So I expressed my feelings (whined about it) to my bestie Kelly. What does she do? Brings me a tiny foam Christmas tree that fits on top of my TV and no one could complain about moving it around with them. It doesn't even weigh a pound. 

That's the kind of friend she is. 


This leads me to my second sentimental completely unrelated story. 


My friend Kelly. Not a specific story I guess, just how darn much I love my friend Kelly. She has given me more "Christmas Trees" in my lifetime than I can count. And by "Christmas Trees" I mean the perfect gift/advice/comfort/laughs at the perfect time. She knew how much I loved Christmas and knew how much I wanted a tree. She got me one. She found a solution. She ALWAYS does that! She is absolutely the best. Everyone needs a Kelly in their life. I love her and have NO IDEA where I would be without her. We have been through pretty much everything together and I don't really remember when she wasn't my best friend. 


HOLY SENTIMENTAL. Oh well I'm thankful for the girl...and my tree. And the perfect amount of holiday cheer it brings to my little basement apartment. 


I mentioned that Dan and I got into a car accident on our way home from Thanksgiving in SC. Well my beloved tree was thrown from the car during the accident. One of the people who stopped to help us came walking towards me with my slightly mangled, slightly dirty tree asking, "Is this your Christmas Tree?" I have never been so thankful to see a little foam tree from my best friend at that moment. A little bit of peace and comfort in a scary situation. 


HOW DOES SHE DO IT???


Ok so those are my two completely unrelated memories/stories that both come from my fabulous little Christmas Tree. I hope that everyone is finding joy in the small and simple things that I like to think of as tender mercies from the Lord during this holiday season.

Thanksgiving takes on a whole new meaning

Thanksgiving has already come and gone....geez! Now we are already coming up on Christmas...the holidays sure do FLY BY!

This year we spent Thanksgiving with my family in South Carolina. Of course I brought my camera but took NO pictures...WHY can I not pull my camera out when I go home? It's SO annoying.

But it was a fabulous Thanksgiving (besides the AWFUL traffic on our trip there). I love to cook so I enjoyed every second of cooking all day.

The menu at the Morris residence consists of...

1. Turkey (usually fried, this year brined...turns out turkey is turkey...still gotta pile on the gravy or cranberry sauce in my opinion)
2. Homemade macaroni and cheese
3. Sweet Potato Casserole
4. Southern green beans
5. Cornbread casserole
6. Spring's (Paula Dean's) Yummy sausage and cranberry stuffing
7. Collards
8. Ham
9. Caroline's Homemade rolls
10. Pumpkin Roll
11. Apple Crisp
12. Heathbar Cake
13. Cookie Bars
14. Whole Cranberry Sauce (I make this every year and I am consistently the only one who eats it every year, no on in the fam likes cranberry sauce!)

YUM! I always forget how much I love Thanksgiving dinner (but secretly I could do without the Ham and Turkey)

Black Friday came early for us this year. The outlets opened at 10 pm on Thanksgiving day and we were there! Dan got some great stuff at his favorite store Brooks Brothers, and I got to raid Banana Republic and J Crew. I ended up staying out with my Mom, Caroline, and Courtney until about 3 am!

The next day Dan watched football and I went back out shopping with my momma. Dan and I had dinner with our fabulous friends Kelly, Darryl, Stephanie, Chad, Kristin, and Justin  at Wild Wings that night.

Saturday we had a lazy day with my mom, dad, and little sister. It was a blast just laying around chatting it up. We all watched the Carolina vs. Clemson game that night and cheered as my GAMECOCKS WON!!!

Sadly, we had to return to DC on Sunday. However, our trip didn't go as expected.

Dan and I got into a car accident on our way home. Witnesses said we flipped about five times. Both of us agree we have never been so terrified in our lives. After it was over, the sound of Dan's voice was the most comforting, joyous sound I've ever heard. We walked away with bumps and bruises.

I wanted to write about this because I never want to forget the feelings of gratitude that Dan and I experienced and continue to feel. If a million little factors would have been different, the outcome could have been a vastly difference scenario. The experience of us having an everyday conversation and suddenly finding ourselves in a very dangerous situation is extremely overwhelming. Two days later and we are still very shaken by that very idea.

We are so grateful for our Heavenly Father and his love and protection. We are making the commitment to never forget that moment that we looked at each other and saw that we were each ok. We are going to use this as motivation to not sweat the small, and I mean tiny, things that we let fill our hearts with worry and fear everyday. Our perspective has been forever changed and I'm so grateful for that.