Twelve Utah Christmases

On my first Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree

On my second Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
Two years on a mission
And the Smart family on my TV

On my third Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
Three Degrees of Glory
Two years in Australia
And a First Amendment controver-sy

On my fourth Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
4-A high school roundball
Three Sunday meetings
Two years in Korea
And that business with the SLOC

On my fifth Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
FIVE-QUART ICE CREAMS
Four firing squads
Three scrapbooks
Two years in Peru
And a movie that's G or PG

On my sixth Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
Six kids and counting
FIVE YEARS OF DROUGHT
Four quilting bees
Three meth labs
Two years in Japan
And a reservoir that's almost emp-ty

On my seventh Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
Seven singing Osmonds
Six kids and counting
FIVE TOM GREEN WIVES
Forbidden love
Three spudnuts
Two years in Brazil
And a single poli-tickle par-ty

On my eighth Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
Eight cups of Postum
Seven kids and counting
Six beehive hairdos
FIVE MONTHS OF SNOW
Forty private clubs (for members)
Three-two beer
Two years in Taiwan
And a salty lake that's really stink-y

On my ninth Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
Nine percent minorities
Eight kids and counting
Seventies in Conference
Sixteen to start dating
FIVE FEET OF SLUSH (Oh my heck!)
Forgeries for sale
Three-piece suits
Two years in Ukraine
And a fiancée in Happy Vall-ey

On my tenth Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
Ten bucks for parking
Nine kids and counting
Eight missing off-ramps
Seven guns per person
Six famous golfers
UTAH BY FIVE
Fourteen ski resorts
Three fault lines
Two years in Detroit
And a minivan or SUV (or both, plus a station wagon)

On my eleventh Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
Eleven Mormon temples
Ten kids and counting
Nine NuSkin neighbors
Ate at Chuck-a-Rama
Theven thpecial thpiritth
Six Jell-o salads
FIVE ORRIN TERMS (Oh my Hatch!)
Forecast is cold
Three Eubanks (three?)
Two years in Tibet
And an uncompleted Lega-cy (Highway)

On my twelfth Utah Christmas, my true love gave to me
Twelve-year-old deacons
Eleven kids and counting
Ten percent tithing
Nine zillion seagulls
Ate a bunch of crickets
Seven Peaks in Provo
Six hours to Vegas
FIVE PRO SPORTS TEAMS (if you count indoor football)
Four standard works
Three Nephites
Tooele sucks!
And a Tabernacle Choir CD !!!!!

(This truly is my 12th Christmas in Utah, by the way)
Mad props to spaff.com for this "peculiar" parody

Tender Tennessee Christmas?

Since Taylor has been with his airline, he's had relatively good luck with having holidays off. Sometimes he'll miss an "eve" but make it for the "day," or part of the accompanying weekend. For Thanksgiving, he had three days off. He flew in to ONT Wednesday morning at 4 am, and flew out of LAX Friday morning at 4 am. It is difficult to spend so much time commuting, especially because it typically involves pickups/dropoffs at early and strange hours. Since he's been in MEM, he's had much better luck jumpseating on FedEx than on Delta....and those flights are usually during the inconvenient hours.

Last week he got his December schedule, which made us happy and sad. Happy because he has 16 days off (for the first time since he was domiciled at DTW). Sad because he is scheduled on 4-day trips over both Christmas and New Years. He'll be overnighting in Nashville Christmas Eve, and Knoxville New Years Eve. It doesn't make sense for Rosie and I to fly out to be with him....he's flying multiple legs December 24, 25, 31 and January 1. My first (sarcastic) thought was "Another tender Tennessee Christmas," a song I love off of Amy Grant's Christmas album. Amy makes it sound so idyllic...for Taylor it will mean nights alone in a Hampton Inn or Fairfield Inn.

Come on weatherman,give us a forecast snowy white.
Can't you hear the prayers of every childlike heart tonight?
Rockies are calling, Denver snow falling,
Somebody said it's four feet deep.
But it doesn't matter, give me the laughter;
I'm gonna choose to keep

Another tender Tennessee Christmas,
The only Christmas for me.
Where the love circles around us like the gift around our tree.
Well I know there's more snow up in Colorado
Than my roof will ever see,
But a tender Tennessee Christmas is the only Christmas for me.

Every now and then, I got a wanderin' urge to see
Maybe California, maybe tinsel town's for me.
There's a parade there, we'd have it made there;
Bring home a tan for New Year's Eve.
Sure sounds exciting, awfully inviting,
Still I think I'm gonna keep

Another tender Tennessee Christmas,
The only Christmas for me.
Where the love circles around us like the gift around our tree.
Well they say in L.A.it's a warm holiday;
It's the only place to be.
But a tender Tennessee Christmas is the only Christmas for me.
(Ohh, you know I wanna be home.)

Christmas Together

I just have to say how wonderful it was to have Christmas together with my husband. He's such a great man with a great family, and being with him was the best gift I could have asked for. All the stuff I mentioned yesterday (giftwise) was just icing on the cake. I can't wait for the next few weeks to be over, and we'll be settled together in our new home in Atlanta.

Totally Spoiled

Best Gifts of the Morning:

Black Leather Jacket
Timbuk2 messenger bag
BYU Womens Chorus CD - Wondrous Love
John Bytheway book - When Times are Tough
DVD - Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog
DVD - Jillian's 30 Day Shred Workout
CASH

Tetris Christmas

A Tetris Christmas from Jared Foster on Vimeo.

Just a little Christmas fun thanks to Melancholy Smile.

A Pilot Family version of the Christmas Card

MERRY CHRISTMAS
from our family to yours! May the joy of the season bring you bountiful happiness, humorous company, good food, safe travels, much eggnog, joy and the spirit of the season!
The Bullock Family

All Cuteculturechick Wants for Christmas...

For my blogging alter-ego, all I want for Christmas is a cute header for my blog! I'm not talented when it comes to making headers, and I haven't quite figured out how to use Photoshop Elements. If any of you are in a creative mood, or haven't thought of a gift for me yet...now you know what I really want!

And if I could have anything I wanted, no financial questions asked , these are the things I want for Christmas, but don't need in the least:

3G iPhone or 120 GB iPod
Black Leather Jacket
Dansko Mae shoes
Wii
Ogio or Timbuk2 messenger bag
NeatReceipts scanalyzer

(Did you know you can post your Amazon wishlist on your blog? Check out the widget on my sidebar)

Christmas!

I've been tagged by at least 3 people for this Christmas meme. Here goes :)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? It doesn't matter so much, as long as it fits in my carry-on. It's gift card central for me usually
2. Real tree or Artificial? I like it both ways, to be honest. But I haven't had my own tree up for 3 years. We seem to regularly move at Christmas...
3. When do you put up the tree? One of the first few days of December
4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime the first week of January
5. Do you like eggnog? LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! Although this year I've been having the Silk Soy Nog (and it's actually a lot better than it sounds)
6. Favorite gift received as a child? My hot pink and electric blue Pogo Ball
7. Hardest person to buy for? My mom
8. Easiest person to buy for? Rosie
9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I'd love to have the Willow Tree Nativity.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?It's been email or blog posts for a while
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? An engagement ring from my ex-husband
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Story and How the Grinch Stole Christmas
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I shop all year long on the clearance racks and online when there are good deals, not necessarily for specific people. Then I see what I have, and decided who it goes to, and who I need to still buy for
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? *sigh* yes
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Egg Nog, Divinity, homemade caramels, Caramel Chex mix, and Ruffles with Grandpa's clam dip
16. Lights on the tree? Enough to blind you!
17. Favorite Christmas song? Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney, and O Come O Come Emmanuel
18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel as much as possible! Especially with family is so many states
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixon! Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen! Rudolph Red Nosed Reindeer!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?A big sparkly silver star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One in the evening and the rest in the morning, unless we have a big family get together on Christmas Eve
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The Crowds
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Blue and Silver
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Soup in bread bowls
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Leather jacket, 120 GB Ipod, Electric Keyboard, and a bunch of stuff off Amazon

'Tis the Season

Some people create elaborate hand-made greeting cards. Some people make amazingly cute holiday home videos. Some people deck the halls so beautifully that it looks like a catalog. Some people bake, and others do volunteer service. What is a Bullock family Christmas tradition? Seeing Santa Claus Conquers the Martians at the Maverick Theater in Fullerton, CA.

We're going the week of Christmas...probably December 23rd. You're invited to join us. If you've never seen the 1963 movie, you can check your local Walmart's dollar DVD bin...it's usually there. IMDB has listed it on the 100 worst films ever made list. Just imagine the campiness on stage with thrift store costumes and comedy improv actors. You KNOW you want to see it!

Christmas Pics

Christmas Morning Pictures....Rosie got her Orange Sweater from Santa!!! Mom got her automatic scrubbing bubbles shower cleaner, and dad got his Zune dock. I got an Ipod dock alarm clock and new satin pajamas. I gave Mary some CDs and Shawn displays how much candy that Santa leaves in in the Watson stockings. A few Christmas eve pictures follow.

Murray Christmas!

Greetings from Murray! After a crazy year of being across the country from my husband, and a crazy month of packing, planning, and moving...it feels so good to be "home" in Murray!

There's no way I could have gotten through this insane week of moving without Eleanor, Debbie, Jake, Mary, Lizzie, Andrea, Brett, Anastasia, the Elders, and Rosie....packing and cleaning by my side. I worked my last day at Montclair Hospital, finished up Christmas shopping, gave multiple rounds of "See ya Soon" hugs, packed my car to the gills, and drove up to snowy Utah. I dealt with torrential rain on days I needed to dumpster-dive for boxes. I ate my last Animal Fries, Sweet Potato Stack and BJ's Pizookie. I had my last four hours of dental work (with a monster boil by my lip to prove it). I suffered through 5 hours of smoky-smelling movers packing my life away into a semi truck (and having to pay over $600 more than my original quote) I had three "incidents" with my car, giving Cami a few more battle wounds. I closed up utility accounts, put in my change of address forms, turned in my modem, and said goodbye to the "blue house" that's been so good to me for the last 18 months.

It's unreal to think that I'm moving across the country from all the friends and family I have. It's unreal to think I'm trading in my tees, capris, and flip flops for parkas, thermals, and snowboots. Trading palm trees and ocean for naked deciduous trees and the Great Lakes. Trading the Clean Air Act for "Smoking or Non?"

But in between the reality of my California existence and the surreal future of my Michigan life...I'm blogging from my parents' blue leather couch that holds so many memories...Family Home Evenings, recovering from my ARDS nightmare, making out with HS boyfriends, birthday circle memory games, folding mountainous loads of laundry, and countless other parties and domestic tasks. My feet are propped up on the long-loved coffee table that I gave to my parents when I moved to Cali. The hand-made stockings that my mom assembled when we moved to Murray are hooked on the mantle to my left, and the blue-and-pink adorned Christmas tree is in view to my right. I'll be attending church at the good ol' Highland Ward today. The only two things that could make my time at home better is Taylor...who plans to fly out to SLC on the 26th and 27th....and listening to Amy Grant's Christmas CD...my dad's mainstay holiday music continuously played during every December since 1993.

Merry Christmas. Joyeux Noel. Mele Kelikimaka. Feliz Navidad.