oh a lot.

welllll i guess i havent really been posting much on here lately! a lot has happened. lets see.

1. i got bangs

2. my family roadtripped across california, nevada, utah, wyoming, nebraska and iowa to get to minnesota. it was the most wonderful road trip with my fam ever. we had lots of laughing and movies and crafty things happening the whole way. and when we were there we got to see so many dear friends and all of our family (my grandparents and cousins whom i havent seen for 3 years!!!!!! i almost cried when i saw them)  and it was soo wonderful. even though we dont talk all the time, i truly truly love them and they are soo dear to my heart, all of them. we also got to welcome two new people into our family, our new uncles ryan and yesse!!!!! 

christmas was wonderful. we kept traditions alive--jakes pizza, veranika, going to the cabin, grandpa milo making blueberry pancakes, christmas eve service etc-- and made new ones as well!

3. i learned how to crochet!! zachary got me a ton of yarn and crochet hooks and instructions and i taught myself! and i've figured out (with a little help from my grandma ruthie) how to make beanies, scarves, and crocheted flowers! its all very exciting.

4. i got a lot of kitchen-y things for christmas--a brand new pancake griddle, a loose leaf tea infuser tea pot, a vacuum sealed coffee thermos (its magical i think, the stuff stays hot for like 8 hours literally! in subzero temperatures even, i tested it!!!!), a tea infuser thermos (from the ways<3), a fancy food processor, and i think thats all the kitchen-y stuff i got. but i also got a freakin ipod nano (the new touch one!!!), some crafty books, fabric, buttons, a tonnn of yo's from my great grandma fern (!), a really cool carpety purse that i cant quite explain and lots of good bath & body works stuff, from santa clause of course!

5. we got stranded in cheyenne, WY! interstate 80 was closed because of the snow and high wind speed (it was -12 and 50 mph winds!!!!!!!!!) so we had to stay there for new years! but it ended up being really fun. me and mallory went hot tubbing and swimming in the hotel pool and we also got a bunch of delicious & somewhat healthy snacky foods (like bread & cheese & grapes & pistachios) and lotsa party favors to ring in the new year (too bad me and mal were the only ones awake for the actual birth of 2011!!!!!) it was a lot of fun though.

6. and today we finally made it back to the beautiful golden state and let me tell ya, after braving the subzero temperatures of the icy tundra, i was soo happy to see the warm sunshine california had to offer! also, i got hot cheeto puffs because i couldnt find them ANYWHERE on our whole stinkin trip!!!! so that was a nice treat for me, if you will.

all in all,  it was a great holiday season for me and my family in a lot of different ways. 

i have soo infinitely much to be thankful for.