There's no place like home

Yesterday morning my mom and I were texting about how much we like being at home.   It is such a blessing to love home- to be safe, comfortable, happy and productive in your home.  This time of year is just about the best for me.  I adore Christmas and all the late-year Holidays like Thanksgiving and the New Year, but when January comes there's just this freshness and cleanliness I feel.
Hunter's brother Nate and his wife Heidi and their three kids stayed with us for Christmas break.  I loved waking up and having kids in the house and busy-ness in the kitchen.  They are easy and fun house guests to have.
My family had a cozy Christmas Eve and Christmas morning together.  We ate lots of good food (as I know everyone does), opened charming presents (we are SO spoiled), and felt the Spirit at Church.  Christmas always makes me a little nervous though, because I have such high expectations and built up excitement.  It always turns out okay each year- different, but okay.  Visiting the Mesa Temple light display is my favorite Christmas tradition with my family.  I love them so much.
Christmas with the Garners was different this year- we didn't get to see all of Hunter's family until a few days ago.   Again, though, yummy food traditions, a well-thought out gift exchange and babies everywhere!  I love babies.
I  am grateful that Hunter and I live in the same place as all of our family.  Christmas at home is the best.  Our 8th annual Christmas Day-Night Hot Cocoa Party was one of the best we've ever had.  The turn out was exceptional- one of our highest attended ever!  The house was busy with friends and family.  We had ward members come for the first time this year.  And different groups of friends seemed to come at the right time so that everyone knew people to talk to, but met new friends as well!  We couldn't have planned that part.  I made homemade marshmallows for the first time! I've been wanting to make them for seriously like 5 years now.  See the how to on my food blog soon.
When Christmas comes down, I have a ball.  I am a little OCD with organizing and cleanliness... so when Hunter and Nate and Heidi left for the day without me, I was in heaven.  I organized all the boxes, had them ready to go in the atttic, dusted, re-decorated all the shelves and nooks in our house, vacuumed, washed the bathrooms and kitchen.  Then the real fun began- I started going through our closet and the living areas of the house.  I have a record 6 bags/ boxes of donations to charity!  I know everyone boasts about their accomplishments online, but I really will say, that I am good at cleaning and organizing.  I have fun (I know I'm psycho) when I clean or go through a stack of papers and throw most of it away.  Really, my favorite file is the trash.  Hunter and I are human though, and sometimes our house gets dusty, bathrooms get grimey, dishes don't get done for days etc.  But truly, I love fixing up the house.
And so this week as Nate and his family have left and I go back to work on Thursday- I'm soaking up these three full days at home.  Here are some items on my list:
-throw away old magazines
-go through recipes and throw unused ones away
- choose new recipes I want to try this month
- file important documents from the last few months
- gather tax items
- spray paint an old frame (I hate DIY so this is the hardest thing on my list)
-bake some Texas sheet cake to use up all the leftover buttermilk from Christmas baking and cooking
-go to the doctor and get an update on how to get this baby making business rolling.
-delete facebook account
-spend many hours on pinterest with no regrets
-read magazines
-clean out fridge (maybe)
-make lists

There's no place like home!

Also- Jenny always puts this kind of stuff at the bottom of her posts and I love it.   So I'm totally copying her- colored titles and all.

Listening to: Phoenix's album- Alphabetical... not as good as Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, but still groovy.
Drinking: Decadent Ghiradelli's Hazelnut hot cocoa mix that Hunter got me for Christmas.
Wearing: pajamas
Anxious: about school starting.... I honestly am okay with it because this year has been so fabulous.  But at the same time I relish my days at home!  (Obviously, see above post.)  This month will seem very relaxed compared to December.
Excited about: the Color run.  A lot of the Garners are running the 5k color run on January 28th...  This is my first race EVER and honestly, I am NO runner, but I've been training a little and will train a lot more when school starts and I can get on the free treadmills in the weight rooms after school.  Apparently in the color run- every kilometer you pass- you get sprayed with color.  That's my main motive behind this.