THANKsgiving Weekend

The whole Walker gang came to visit us for Thanksgiving weekend. I know what you're thinking...no, they did NOT all stay at our place. Although we would have been more than happy to have one giant sleepover!! 

Thanksgiving dinner is not so overwhelming when there are plenty of helping hands. Everyone had their own parts to play...

We had turkey carvers:

Gravy stirrers:

Drink pourers:

 

Those who helped with everything:

And those who helped with not much but we love them anyway :)

And those who just looked cute (Christian):

As Eric would say, Christian needs a lot more smile and I need a lot less. 

And together we made a fabulous meal!

As if Thanksgiving wasn't enough, Eric had to go and turn 27 on Black Friday. This birthday he achieved his lifelong goal of owning an iPhone. Seriously, he has been begging for one for YEARS! Thank you parentals for his awesome gift! 

He loved his other gifts too!

We didn't do much the rest of the weekend. The girls mainly shopped while the guys played paintball. But before their flight, we stopped by Liberty Jail and got some family pics in!

We haven't changed much from 2 years ago when we took this exact picture!

 It was so nice having family here for the holidays. Come back anytime!!

Results

On Friday, October 26th we got some great news. 

Eric looked like this:

 And I felt like this:

ERIC PASSED PART 1 OF HIS CHIROPRACTIC BOARD EXAMS!! Eric studied his butt off for over a week, barely sleeping or talking to me. He wasn't sure what to expect but he went in to 2 days of test taking and came out feeling like he failed (apparently this is a pretty common feeling when taking boards). I was an internal wreck. Sometimes I feel like I stress over Eric's tests more than he does. On top of that, we had to wait over a month to see if he passed. Luckily I forgot all about the results during that time so I couldn't stress too badly. Anyway, looks like I had nothing to worry about! He's very happy and I'm very relieved :)

Onto my news...I started a new job at my company a couple weeks ago and Eric surprised me with a present to celebrate:

I have been listening to this CD every where I drive. I'm constantly humming T. Swift songs and I love it. I tend to listen to CDs over and over until I have them memorized, so look out world--this is probably going to go on for quite awhile. 

As for my new job, I now support the sales team in our Middle East and Europe offices. It's a combination of inside sales, project management, and operational. I love getting to talk to people with accents. Is it just me, or is everything that's said in a British accent so much funnier? The time difference takes a little getting used to, but so far I like my new role!

Welcome to Kansas!

My dad and stepmom came to visit us last weekend and got their first glimpse of good ol' Kansas. We had a great time eating tons of food, shopping, and hanging out. On Saturday we went to the Plaza to walk around and shop and we found tons of zombies like this:  

This guy was one of the better ones.

 Even the statues were getting into the spirit of Halloween...

Me with my dad and Cyndee.

Look how happy we are shopping for shoes!

I was shocked when I found out that Cyndee had never carved a pumpkin in her ENTIRE life (apparently it's not big in North Dakota) so I insisted that ALL of us carve pumpkins. Eric made a movie to document Cyndee's first pumpkin carving experience! I know, I know...my pumpkin is pretty IMPRESSIVE. And so is Eric's movie making skills! 

Come back to Kansas soon!!

Money Money

Since the government was kind enough to take away our subsidized loans, we've been looking for other ways to get some more mullah. Eric was willing to sacrifice a few hours of his day to write essays  and won himself a scholarship! WAHOO!!

Eric was presented with 1,000 big ones last Saturday during a dinner at his school. If only I could spend it on clothes instead of tuition...

Good job Eric!

Washington DC

Eric and I travel to a new place every year that we are married. This year we were able to use our Skymiles to go to Washington DC. It's one of those places that you have to go to once in your lifetime, and now I can cross it off my bucket list.

The first couple days were spent site seeing. Luckily it wasn't too hot, so we were able to hit up the major sites pretty quickly. 



The White House



Jefferson Memorial



Part of the World War II Memorial

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is only about a year old. This one was Eric's favorite because it's different than the rest of the memorials. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

The Korean War Memorial was probably one of my favorites. It was cool to see actual veterans looking at these. One of them pointed out that all these statues are wearing different uniforms because more than one military branch fought in the war. 

Korean War Memorial

This one looked exactly like it does in the movies!

The Lincoln Memorial



The Washington Monument taken from the Lincoln Memorial.

What would a trip to DC on an election year be without protestors?



Eric was able to get us a private tour of the Capital. Funny enough, our Kansas tour guide was a student from BYU Idaho. She pointed out a lot of interesting things that we wouldn't have heard on the general tour.

Every state has a statue held in the capital. Our guide showed us Brigham Young for Utah! Apparently Kansas is going to get an Amelia Earhart statue soon because no one knows anything about the current guy.

We didn't want to spend days looking at the Smithsonian, so we just went to the National Air and Space Museum. 

We headed to the Archives to check out the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Apparently it is not the entrance and they only open this door on the 4th of July. This picture is so funny to me. 

Eric also got us a tour of the Pentagon. That was a bust. They don't really show you anything, but the one cool part of the tour was seeing the 9/11 Memorial. For the rest of the vacation, we went to the Arlington National Cemetery, went swimming, ate lots of food, and relaxed.

The night before we left, there was a nice thunderstorm. Eric took TONS of pics before he got this great shot!

The Washington Monument from our hotel window.



We can't wait for next year's trip!

Repurposing Objects

One thing I have learned from my love of HGTV is that the best way to decorate on a budget is to repurpose items. After passing by this basket in my hallway every day for two months, the thought finally occurred to me that I should repurpose it!

While the basket sits in our bathroom holding my hair dryer and straightener...

I had another idea for the lid!

  Two nails later, the lid is now my jewelry holder. Thank goodness for the little imperfections that stick out so my necklaces can hang nicely. Hey, it's definitely better than getting tangled up in my dresser drawer. 

Not bad for FREE!

Wreaths of Fun

After months and months of refusing to give in to Pinterest, I finally gave it a try. I'm trying to be better at decorating for holidays to get into the spirit, so I thought this simple Valentine's Day wreath would be the perfect start. Plus, my door was looking empty after taking down the Christmas wreath. I combined 2 different ideas off Pinterest to create this simple and CHEAP wreath. 

Here's what you need:

-Old cereal box

-1 roll of crepe paper

-Hot glue gun and glue sticks

-A scrap of ribbon

The first thing you do is cut open the cereal box. With one of the largest sides of the box, cut out half of a heart. Then trace the shape onto the other half of the box and cut it out to create this...

Be sure to pay attention to the side you are tracing so they match up. You'll see later that I didn't do this at first. Luckily I had two cereal boxes handy!

Next you'll want to cut the crepe paper in strips 2 feet long. I used an entire roll that I got for $1! You might want to buy two rolls if you plan on making a thicker or a bigger heart.

For more of a "rose" look, crumple up each strip in a ball so it's not so crisp. Unfold the strip and start rolling the crepe paper by hot gluing at the stem every few turns. 

Told you I made the heart wrong at first :)

 After you have glued all the roses and they have had time to cool, it's time to start gluing them on!

 In order for them to stand up straight, you'll want to cut off the stems before hot gluing them on the heart. I also pushed down on each rose so they looked more realistic.

 And after they are all glued, attach some ribbon on the back with more hot glue. I just had a strip lying around so this didn't cost me anything. 

 For a total of $1...here is the finished product!

I think it turned out pretty well for what it cost. Eric thinks I should make a green shamrock for next month lol.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is my Christmas wreath I never posted.

 Eric came up with the idea to wrap ribbon around the wreath. It definitely tied everything together! What a good hubby :)