Pages

Monday, December 29, 2008

Vacation!

Going here:

& here:

Then here :)

That's Philadelphia...we're going to visit Ben, Alissa, Claira, & Dylan!
Updates & pictures when we get home in 2009.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas :)

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Butterfly Surprise!

I kidnapped my hubby, sister, brother, and his girlfriend on Monday. They didn't know where they were going...but guessed it on the way there :)








We had fun! :)

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

3rd Grade Christmas Program

The talented Mr. Stillens accompanying the 3rd graders of May Grisham!

This is Lorenzo Papworth, his family is in 2nd Ward. Isn't he ADORABLE?! I hope Lindsay has kiddos that look like him :)

That's Mrs. Botello on the right, she put the whole thing together. I remember her from Joe Nightingale! She taught us music and always said, "You can remember my name like this: Mrs. Botello plays the cello!" It worked ;)
She was so amusing, after every song when the audience would applaud, she would turn around and give a huge smile to the crowd! I don't think the performance is just for the kids!

This picture is priceless! He grabbed the microphone and it popped out of its stand. He was so scared like it was the end of the world. Look at his little worried face!

This is the boy I spend most of my work days with. It's amazing how innocent he looks in this picture ;) As stressful as those hard days can be, he really is a sweetheart! I'm totally attached to him, Lindsay says I talk about him too much. That's pretty much my work day though - and he does say some hilarious things.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

He Gets Me Through

Look at this handsome guy! So lucky he's mine.

I had a rough day at work on top of finals stress...and look what was waiting for me in the car!

Gotta love his art. It reminds me of the funny things we'd draw each other when he was on his mission :)

Sandy Stuck


I caught her like this on Sunday.
She loves to slip her jewelry off, and when I walked back by her bed - she was sitting there with this look on her face!
I love when she puts her ears to the side...she looks like a little cow.
Love you Sandra bear truffle shuffle!

Monday, December 15, 2008

NEW CAR!

We got a sweet new ride!

It's a 2002 Volvo S60.

We went to Castro Auto on Grand Ave. in AG. We HIGHLY recommend them! My cousin, Rachel, got her car, Barney, there :)
We love that they don't have paid salesmen on commission. We were able to walk around and browse cars without having some sleaze-ball try to shove a car down our throats! When I shop, I will ask for help when I need it. I know what I want - so leave me alone until I need you!
We saw an Accord first that was in our price range. Turns out that bad boy had 200,000 miles on it! So we passed. Then we saw a beautiful Volvo behind it. We thought it had to be WAY out of our league, but it didn't have a sticker on it. So I asked the girl on a whim how much it was. Turns out, it was only $1,000 more than the Accord - but with 100,000 less miles. And WAY more bells and whistles!!!
We test drove it and were hooked. When I was driving, Matt looked over at me and said, "Aww you look like a little momma. I can picture car seats in the back!" That sold me right there :)
I took it into a mechanic on Friday and he said it was a great car! We bought it that day.
Here comes the good part...
We bought the car on Friday. We've been driving it everywhere and showing it off...it's our new baby!
We drove down to Santa Barbara yesterday for Travis' homecoming and showed it to all the fam down there.
We came back from SB and went to dinner at my mom's. We always park in the driveway. Last night, my mom had to go help out with cookies for the Nativity. I was on the phone with Bobba and my mom came walking in. I said to Matt, "Oh, we need to move the car." Then looked at my mom. Her eyes said it all. I said, "You backed into our NEW car?!" And she nodded. I was like, "Love you bye!" To Bobba on the phone and we went outside. She usually doesn't go anywhere Sunday night while we're over there. Also, we usually have the 4Runner parked there which is higher and easily visible. Shoulda, coulda, woulda! We'll be parking on the street from now on :)
The damage isn't that bad...just a square mark in our bumper from her tow hitch. And the whole bumper is shifted. Her insurance is covering to get it fixed up. Soooo yeah. The irony!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Thanksgiving 2008!

A little late, but all of the pics are on my sister's camera and she's being stingy with them! Ha ;)
. . .
We had a wonderful, relaxing day down in Santa Ynez. The Taylors (Alma & Ed Carson's daughter & her fam) invited our whole family down for the feast. They are pretty much family anyway :)

I made the Lion House rolls for last year's feast and my grandma asked me if I'd make the rolls again this year. I was telling Sean, my little brother, and he said, "Whatever happened to Nana's rolls that melted in your mouth?" He then went on to say how you just had to breathe on them and they melted, and I had no idea he cared so much about food! If you know Sean, you know he's not one to get passionate or outspoken about many things. I thought it was too cute that he loved these rolls Nana used to make, so I had to make them this year.
Here's the trick - dipping them in butter before rolling them up!

Alma's orange rolls on the left, Nana's buttery ones I made on the right.




We took some family pictures in the Taylor's gorgeous backyard. Lindsay's Rebel is so nice that Matt & I decided to get one for Christmas too! :)

When we came home and were divvying up leftovers, Sean was standing in the kitchen looking around. He then said, "I'm just gonna take some rolls." Grabbed a bag of them, and walked out! Love ya Sean!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Feeling Pretty Crafty!

Last Saturday was 2nd Ward's Super Saturday!
They were kind enough to invite us 3rd Warders for the fun :)

This is what I am most proud of! I LOVE IT!!!
We didn't have any Thanksgiving decor, so I'm glad there is one thing I can hang on the wall now.

This little plate was too cute to pass up.
I can just picture Christmas cookies on it now!

This one is kind of hard to see. It's a 9x13 pan that I etched our last name into the bottom. So neat!
I won't ever lose a pan again! Unless someone else named Miller takes it...

Question: Do you guys think that this vinyl craze is just a phase?? Like will our kids look back on this stuff and go, "Mom! That's so 2008!!! Gross!"

Friday, November 21, 2008

Hiking With Tiana Marie!

On Veteran's Day, Tiana and I went hiking up in SLO.
We hiked up Poly Canyon where there are all of these weird houses built by students in the architecture program.
It was so cool! Who knew all of this crazy stuff was back there?

The arch where you enter.

I thought this one looked like Luke Skywalker's house!

Our little horsey friend Tiana fondly named, "Boots."

Mrs. Parker in the Shell House!

Friends for 21 years!

View of some structures from the top.

Beautiful sunset on our drive home.
I'm so glad we got out and did something together, it was so fun to catch up.
Sometimes I feel like I see her less now than when she lived in Idaho; her and Josh live in Santa Maria now!
We need to make a habit of this :)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Why I LOVE Target.

Well, another reason. Among many.
Check out these beauties!

These little carrots are joining me in the kitchen.

And this purty flower is joining the clock in the bathroom.

It's like they were made to be mine. I love the vintage quality of them...like drawings from an old encyclopedia.
$6 each.
I love Targie :)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Happy Birthday Matt!

Before:

AFTER!

The area rug was originally $129.99 at Target...I got it for $30!!!!! Matt always says the tile makes his feet cold in the morning, so I got it for him (maybe a little for me, too).

I surprised him with a healthy dinner. He's been working out and eating healthy diligently for a month and a half now. So instead of my typical comfort food, I went light. On Matt's Birthday menu:
Lime-Marinated Broiled Salmon, Cucumber Watercress Salad, and Whole Wheat Bread from Albertson's Culinary Circle brand (it tasted homemade)!

The birthday boy approves!
It was literally 90 degrees on Friday, so I had to make food that wouldn't heat up our house more. This was perfect because I only had to have the broiler on for a few minutes.

Instead of baking a cake, we had sorbet for dessert. It was nice on such a warm night!

Saturday we went down to Los Angeles for our Stake's Temple Day. It was so peaceful. No protesters...and uplifting words from the new Temple President to start our day off. It was wonderful to be spiritually strengthened. Afterwards, we went to Sprinkles and walked down Rodeo Dr. I loved looking at the fancy stores, Matt loved seeing the fancy cars! We saw Ferraris, Bugattis, Rolls-Royces, and tons of Benzies.

Here was the view on our drive to IKEA. There were so many fires on our drive! I hope that everyone is safe and the fires are contained soon.
We had a wonderful weekend celebrating. I am so grateful for my selfless husband and the wonderful man he is! Happy Birthday baby!!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Aebleskivers!

Or able-skivvies as Matt named them :)
I made some for breakfast on Sunday morning!
Nana gave us a pan that weighs around 90 lbs. (maybe I'm exaggerating a little) and I was inspired by my Williams-Sonoma catalog that came and had this recipe in it.

Instead of doing the pecan pumpkin filling, I put cinnamon sugar in the middle of some. We ate them with Nana's strawberry jam and powdered sugar...yum!

My plate:

Matt's plate:
All images & content on this site © Kara Miller 2008-2013 unless otherwise noted. Do not use any content without permission or giving credit. Thank you!