grumble grumble

last night i woke up in the middle of the night with a very painful sore throat and stuffy head.

i hate being sick.

i hate sitting around with a grumpy face and talking in an extra whiny voice that just seems to come out when i'm sick all on its own.

and i hate working while i'm sick.

normally people would get to call in and not go to work but since i work from home i have to sit here all day with my head pounding harder and harder because i have to keep these dang headphones attached to my ears.

yuck.

i need a nap.

i love the 80s!

so on Saturday Matt and i went a wandering around TJMaxx.

we love that store.

and i found the sweetest 80s style sweatshirt!

it was love at first sight.

and you know it's love at first sight when you try it on and then have to take pictures of it in the dresser room.

complete with funny faces.

and you can't really tell in those pictures because of the amazingness of the hooded sweatshirt but i gots my hairs cut.

Matt and i were crazy to think i'd look good with longer hair.

i look and feel like myself again!

so moral of the story...

80s sweatshirt + short hair = happy Nikki!

Baby Finn

this week is a big week for friends.

Amy and Chase had their baby last night!

and he is ridiculous adorable!

this is the picture i received letting me know he was born.

ya know usually newborns are kinda funny looking for a couple weeks but not Finn.

he's already got the cutest little face and amazing hair!

you can just tell he's gonna be a heart throb someday.

Matt and i went to the hospital to see him tonight and he loved us!

or we loved him!

either way!

look at that precious little yawn!

ah he's so cute i could just take a bite out of him!

I can't wait to watch this little rascal grow up!

wedding bells!

my best friend is getting married!!

how ridiculously cute is this couple?

now i've never met this Michael character that has stolen the heart of my Lucia but i do know he makes my Lucia very very happy so he wins my approval!

and check out Lucia's amazingly beautiful ring!

i'm in love with it!

and i'm so happy for them!

i'm so excited to make the trip up to Utah this summer to see them wed for time and all eternity!

Congrats you guys!!

on the bright side

so Matt has only worked at his new job for 2 days and he's already been 2 hours late getting home both days.

it's gonna be tough being a web developer's wife.

on the bright side, Matt was so tired last night he was sleep talking about shiny bears.

at least that'll keep me amused.

new job!

Matt got a new job!

a real career type job!

my little man has turned into a grown up and i'm beaming with pride!

he was doing freelance work for Unruly Studios and they called him in this week and offered him a full time position as a web developer!

he now does the exact job he is going to school for right now.

i'm sure he'll learn so much faster actually doing the job than just going to school for it.

plus, he's super happy.

he actually sent me a text with an exclamation point in it today and trust me, Matt doesn't give those away easily.

this is so amazing!

i really feel blessed to have this happen to us right now.

i feel like this is the start to a whole new life.

resolution time!

it's new year's resolution time again.

usually i totally suck at my new year's resolutions.

basically i think they're just around for me to pretend i'm going to change my life but then forget about by the time february rolls around.

but i surprised myself last year and i actually completed my new year's resolution.

last year i only had one resolution, to be crafty.

i promised i would learn to use my sewing machine and make tons of things.

i totally did that!

i even put some up on Etsy and made a separate blog, http://sneakhugs.blogspot.com/, so i can remember all the things i make and eventually people can look there and see them.

i also said i would use sculpey more and make things out of that which i wasn't very good about doing.

we did make some Christmas presents for people using it though!

and by we i mean i come up with the present idea and Matt does all the making because he's so much better at it than i am.

we make a good team!

our friend Jordan draws this cute little tadpole guy so we made a magnet of it for him and Christine.

and i'm so sad because i can't find the picture i have of it right now.

we also made a kind of strange gift for our friends Chase and Amy.

they joked around about wanting an adorable Yakult digestive system.

watch this commercial and you'll totally want one too.

so we made them one!

and i think they liked it.

so basically i have figured out the secret to new year's resolution success - only have one resolution.

this year Matt and i are going with a pretty simple one.

be healthier!

this includes eating better and exercising and going to sleep on time and doing all the things that a doctor would tell you to do but you never do because it sucks.

we started this past weekend and i think it's already making a difference.

and is already kind of annoying.

i'm determined to stick with it though!

and since Matt and i are doing it together we can help each other along the way.

that always makes it a little easier.

so here's to a great and healthy 2011!

*clink*

sunday walk in the park

yesterday Matt and i took a Sunday stroll with our little puppy.

it was perfect weather outside and the sunset made it pretty.

now if only the grass in the park wasn't classic Arizona grass, yellow and dead, it would have been perfect.

Padme was having the time of her life running to Matt and back to me and then to Matt and back to me.

and apparently to be a blogger you have to take a picture of your shoes.

so we did.

we forgot to bring one of Padme's toys for her to play with but we figured she's a dog so we could find a stick for her and it would be just as good.

turns out Padme is only half dog because she only wanted to eat the stick, not play with it.

When we got home Matt said our walk was a good Sunday activity so maybe we can make it a tradition while the weather is still nice.

i'm sure Padme would love that!

snow day

last thursday, December 30th, Mesa, AZ got snow.

unbelievable right?

this only happens once every katrillion years.

so why aren't i happy about it?

because i was practically the only person in the valley not to see it!!

very depressing.

but i have been loving the chilly winter.

we never turn our heater on in the winter because we want to soak up as much of the cold as we can and this year there's a lot of cold being soaked up.

we actually have need for our slippers, snuggies and electric blanket.

and all this cold is really making me wish we lived somewhere else where the cold wasn't only going to last another couple weeks before the 100 degree weather returns.

don't know if that'll ever happen but a girl can dream.

Wamsley Christmas

round 2 of Christmas fun!

we did the Wamsley Christmas on the 26th which was kinda awesome because it made it seem like Christmas lasted longer than usual.

while waiting for dinner to be ready i took a bunch of pictures of everybody.

Steven and Chelsa helping with dinner.

Samuel being a creepy cowboy.

Matt being a cutie.

Josh watching football.

Trey and Samantha playing video games.

Samuel rocking in the rocking chair.

Abby talking on the phone.

trying to get all the kids in a picture together before Samuel runs away.

it doesn't work so Mom tries to hold him there and chaos occurs.

that picture is going on the Christmas card next year!

after dinner we went to do presents!

there was a lot of opening of gifts at the Wamsley house because we do a gift exchange.

we tried to open presents in an orderly fashion but that doesn't work when you have 5 little kids running around.

somewhere in all the excitement i got a few decent pictures.

dad doing his job, cleaning up wrapping paper.

i had Christy in the gift exchange and not to toot my own horn or anything but her present was the bomb!

first she got cute little bottles filled with what she considers to be the elixir of life and she posed with them awkwardly.

then i got her a little manger scene since she collects them and this one you can paint yourself or have me and Matt paint it for you.

but the main present was the best!

i worked on it all December and i was very proud of my work.

a quilt made of all her kids' baby clothes!

it was love at first sight.

mom got a super sweet gift from Amanda and Derek.

ninja bread!

they're ninja cookie cutters!

i must get these!

dad's gift from me and Matt.

box full of fancy candy and popcorn.

my parents usually give each family a big gift and this year our gift was luggage.

every time Matt and i have been on a trip we've had to borrow my parents' luggage so i think this present was mostly for us.

it's even a cool one that comes with four pieces for all your traveling needs!

and i was really happy to see my nieces and nephews loved their pencil cases!

that made slaving over them totally worth it!

but they didn't love the pencil cases as much as they loved the ZuZu pets!

they played with them for so long!

and Samuel is totally freaking out the entire time!

maybe next year we should just plan on having the Wamsley Christmas the day after.

it makes it so much more fun!