A Weekend of Holly Jolly Festive Fun

It seems like the more fun stuff we're doing, the less motivation I have to blog about it.  Then when NOTHING is going on I wax philosophical which basically means a boring blog for ya'll to follow-sorry.  I'm trying to repent.
This past week we went to Cody's work christmas party.  It was way more fun than our last work party.  In Houston when we were with Exxon, the party was at some hotel downtown in a banquet room.  There were 100s of people.  Everyone was formal dress and they had this huge buffet broken up by geography of where the food was from.  We sat at a huge table with 6 other couples 90% of whom where way older than us with loud music playing in the background so you couldn't really hear anyone.  Bleh.  Don't get me wrong, it was way nice/fancy I guess....just not my particular style, plus the food wasn't that great.

So flash forward to Vivint Marketing's xmas party last friday night.  It was at a lodge up in Sundance (a nice ski resort that's just 20 min away) and about 50 showed up.  First thing we do is wrap some presents that the company had bought for sub for santa for a local battered women's shelter.  Then we had a yummy mexican buffet.  Then they had an auction where we got "1000" bucks to bid on whatever.  They had movie theatre packages (tickets/candy/bucket etc), mexican coke (apparently that's a big deal?), nice watches, gift cards to diff restaurants, some big ticket items too like a nice nikon camera/lenses/backpack for it etc, mini ipad, google tablet, weekend getaway to park city, date night-dinner and gift cards for shopping after etc.
The trick was, some of it was wrapped/so you didn't know what it was, and some of the nicer gifts were thrown in on a less-cool thing.  Like a guy bought some fuji water and got a mini ipad thrown in after he bought it.  For the REALLY nice things like an ipad air and the camera package, you had to bid to compete for them-survivor style and if you lost you still lost your money etc.  We were saving our money for the end-there was one more pack of water and we assumed something big would come with them, when just before they got to it they said: auction is over-it was a decoy, there's nothing else.  DOH!  We were THIS close to going for the camera but we were worried we'd have to eat gross food or something, turns out it was just a brain teaser puzzle which I'm sure code would have rocked-dang it!  But it was still fun.
Then we had "our favorite things".  everybody had brought 5 of their "favorite" things.  We put 5 slips with our name on it in 5 different bags.  Each employee went up on stage and explained the favorite thing they had brought and then drew 5 names so we all got 5 diff things.  We got mostly food: jug of milk and oreo cookies, traderjoes peppermint cookies, oreo and peppermint choc bark, a cafe rio gift card, and a martinelli's/symphony bar.  We brought BYU wristbands (since there are a lot of U/UVU fans at work haha).  It was lots of fun, and as party favors the employees each got a nike jacket (shrug-who comes up with these things?  clearly a man-and a framed steve jobs' quote, and the spouses got a gift card to one of their fav places (as told by their husbands)-code did good and I got a 50$ card to downeast outfitters. :)
Sadly I have NO pictures cause my phone died, but I took a pic of my hair that I got done earlier in the day:

oh and I got these before my phone died

 the dining room:

It was REALLY cold up there-man! but it was fun and the roads weren't too bad-I was worried since we had just gotten a lot of snow.

The next night (Saturday night) we went to see the BYU Choir Christmas Celebration.  All the choirs performed along with the symphony, and it was REALLY good-it will def be an annual tradition from now on!  You have to be ready to buy tickets tho cause it's only one weekend and they always sell out.

Sat morning we got some christmas pics done of our family for xmas cards etc and they turned out really cute-Jake ACTUALLY smiled!  a miracle.  I won't post the one that's going out on our cards but some of the others:

Thanks Tyler! 

Then after church on Sunday we watched the Christmas devotional and had cookies and later Steve came over for a cut-throat game of monopoly and the movie: a Christmas Story.  We better slow things down or we wont' have anything festive left to do later in the month :)  We're getting excited tho as it's Code's last week at Vivint and my parents are coming to town next week and staying through the holidays!

New Beginnings

well, the Nolden household isn't waiting til the New Year to start new ventures.  In the past month after a lot of research, fasting, and prayer, we've decided to quit our current job at Vivint and start a web application development and digital marketing consultancy.  Cody has always preferred working on his own verses for a company, and the stars seem to have aligned at the right time.  We were happy to stay with Vivint but too many opportunities presented themselves and were too tempting.

It's kind of funny cause everyone we've told has had pretty much the same reaction: excited for us while at the same time are like: wow...you're crazy/brave.  The funny thing is I'm not nervous....like at all.  It's just like when we were in Texas and then all of a sudden the idea of moving to Utah didn't bug me anymore/ didn't make me nervous.  I feel like if it's right, it'll feel right.  I'm honestly excited to see what Cody can accomplish while he's not held back by upper management/red tape etc.   Ultimately the goal is to get enough clients to where Cody (and his friend Brant-who he's going in on this with) can hire other developers to help keep up with it all and he will have time to create products/other ways to earn money etc.  It also helps that I have 100% confidence in Cody's ability to get any job thanks to his skill set/contacts so if it doesn't go well/work out we'll just get another job before we have to dip too much into our savings.  (Seriously, knock on wood, he's gotten EVERY job he's ever applied for-I mean we had to choose between 3 different jobs coming out of college-the boy's good, and it helps that he's good in an area that is really hot right now-technology).

So in a few weeks we will be moving into our new house, and starting a new company.  Life is definitely not boring.  My parents are coming for 2 weeks for xmas so we're excited to spend time with them.

On the home front, Jake has had a rough week.  It all started on Sunday when he started teething really bad.  He was MISERABLE-red cheeks, low grade fever, lack of appetite, and we could see one of his canines coming in right by his front teeth.  All day he was whining/crying/whimpering, and being held by one of us and sleeping.

Monday and Tuesday he continued to be in a bad mood but the symptoms seemed to be less.  Today he woke up in a better mood but seems to be congested/ has a bad sounding cough.  I'm waiting to see if he continues to have other symptoms/has caught a cold or if it's just from the extra runny nose he's been having from the teething.  Either way, we have basically watched a LOT of Winnie the Pooh.  To top it all off we've gotten a ton of snow in the past 24 hrs-up to 6 inches in the valley!  It's exciting and nerve-racking all at the same time...it's been awhile since I've driven in snow-I don't like it when I can feel the automatic brake system kicking in.  So for better or worse we'll be home bound for the next few days.
Glad this mood is over:

We've put up our Xmas tree and so far so good-we'll see how long it takes for Jake to not listen when I tell him no when he inches closer to the tree :)

our porch:

I enjoy being entertained...

I've recently re-fallen in love with reading.  I was always reading tons while growing up, and then ever since having Jake I've slacked off (hmm I wonder why... ;).  Just in the past 4-5 months I've re-read 1-6 of the harry potters, read the first two anne of avonlee books (forget the exact titles), jurassic park, lost world, the hound of baskerville, and, I'm kind of embarrassed to say, the first two of the twilight series.  I had read the twilight books back when I first got back from my mission when everyone was crazy about them.  They were entertaining but I categorized them under literary "fast-food" as I call it- once in awhile it's fun, but not really of substance, and we had watched the first twilight movie with riff tracks recently at my brothers' so it got me thinking about  them again.

It seems like I'm so bipolar with this stuff: entertainment (books/movies/tv) Either I am obsessed and enjoy them entirely too much/spending a lot of time on them, and then all of the sudden I'll go cold/tire of them for awhile like I got burnt out.  I think I need more 'moderation in all things' as it were.  Be more balanced.

As I've read all of these books I've gotten SO sucked into their different worlds and consumed by them.  It's fun but it's kinda frustrating cause all I can think about in my free time is the next time I can pick up the book and read/staying up WAY too late reading etc.  It doesn't help that all of these books have movies so then I get in the mood to watch those etc so it's a very time-consuming cycle.  So lately all I've been doing in my free time is read/watch movies.  I def think a classic should be the next book I read-less chance of a blockbuster movie plus I tend to read slower/think more with those....any suggestions?

Maybe I'll try to only read 3 days a week before bed instead of every night til midnight, that way I won't get burnt out/tire out my eyes.  Sigh...nerd problems.....


On a completely other tangent, I am so grateful for my family- I'm so blessed with an amazing loving husband and the sweetest boy in the world (biased of course).  We'll be doing xmas pics of the fam soon and I can't wait!

Confessions of a germophobe

I'm a germophobe.  As a mother you can imagine how tricky it is when you have a lil perfect baby and all you can do is imagine all the germs surrounding him.  Then your little baby gets older and he's the origin of all germs.  Now you'd prolly think that changing diapers etc would be the worst for me, but it's not.  I can change diapers all day.  Puke?  no biggie.  But for some reason I HATE, I repeat, HATE any by-product of the nose.  So you can imagine how fun I have when he has a cold and is constantly oozing out stuff.  When he was younger and he had nose issues and we had to use those awful nose-sucking things, I'd ALWAYS call for code.  If I did it I'd start dry-heaving.  I eventually had to just deal and start taking care of it myself cause I couldn't stare at it all day.  My favorite, and by favorite- I mean it fills me with rage and disgust, is when he sneezes at point blank range into my face.....when my mouth is open.  It's pretty much like this:




Sometimes it's hard to be a mom-it means allowing someone else to do things to you that you'd NEVER let anyone else do.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

No, I'm not one of those who listens to christmas music before thanksgiving-not that there's anything wrong with that-I just don't.  No, I was just thinking about how much I love this time of year-meaning now: Fall/Thanksgiving/Christmas.  What I love most about this time of year is that the rest of the world seems to just be in a better mood.  They all seem to be more focused on the things that matter in life: family, gratitude, etc.  Ya know, the eternal perspective that puts you in a good mood.  The greatest part about it is that not everyone is necessarily religious, but you don't have to be religious to have gratitude.  It's the wide-spread gratitude (religious or not) that, I think, accounts for the uptick in mood this time of year.  If only people could hold on to this mindset all year round.

I've read a few great talks on gratitude lately.  One of my favorites is The Divine Gift of Gratitude by President Monson from the October 2010 conference.

A few of my favorite quotes:

"This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways.  We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” 8

"A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don’t get around to it. Someone has said that “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

"Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love."

I definitely am feeling my Heavenly Father's love as I watch my energetic and loving 15 month old son toddle around so pleased with the world.  I feel that inward peace as I can't wait for my sweetheart and best friend to get home from work.  I am so blessed with a beautiful and loving family, home, the restored gospel in my life, and a loving savior who will never leave me.  I hope everyone can take a minute to reflect on all of their blessings and feel their Heavenly Father's love!!!

some pretty photos

I'm going to miss this view when we move

just toddling about

I don't know what has caused it but lately (as in the past 2-3 days) I just can't stop looking at/watching Jake.  I just feel like he's somehow switched over from baby to toddler and I'm trying to figure out just when that happened or how.  Maybe it's cause we've been doing newish things lately for the first time like going to the mall to walk around when it was a lil cold for a walk and I let Jake get out and run around the play place with the other much bigger kids.  Or yesterday when we stopped and played/explored at the park we always walk by.  Seeing him getting more coordinated physically and the sheer joy on his face when he's running around and doing new things combined with some pixy dust and he just seems older. shrug.  Plus, lately I've started to discover that he knows a lot more than I was aware of.  Like, when we were face timing with gpa Richards and my dad asked: where's your feet?  After a second pause Jake looked down at his feet and pointed.  I don't remember teaching him that?!  Or he'll point at certain things in his books when I ask him where something is etc.  Just little things to show that even though he's not talking a lot he knows a lot.

I've already posted most of these on facebook but I'll put up the full videos for the grandparents.  Ya know how how it is, you take a bazillion photos cause you know that 90% of them will be blurred or not cute but so many turned out cute and I didn't want to delete them:

At the mall:

At the park:

Chillin' at home:

sportin' a new haircut-he only cried a little :)

So excited to be out and about:

and apparently he likes to tidy up...oh, and sorry for the 5 sec bum shot-but at least it's a cute bum haha:

We love our lil jaker!  But I'm not loving the increase in bumps and bruises that goes along with all this exploring :(  Oh well, he's definitely toughening up cause he rarely cries anymore.  All comes with the territory right?