It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas 2009!! I can't believe that it has come and gone...for us it really is the most wonderful time of the year! Kyle and I actually waited for an appropriate period of time before we did our Christmas...we had ours on Wednesday night, and it was great! Then Thursday morning we slept in and then headed north to visit family. Christmas Eve is the Soderstrom's big tradition of our "Christ dinner"...we eat things that we think the Savior would have eaten, like flat bread, fish, olives, dates, almonds, cheese, grape juice, celery etc...this year mom decided to throw in some new foods...different types of nuts, lentils, goat's cheese, and goat's milk. Kyle and Ben were the only two brave ones for the goat's milk...unfortunately they did not read the can before drinking and it was warm goat's milk concentrate! So funny! Also we got new jammies! Hooray for Christmas pj's! The next morning we woke up and had the traditional Cottam family Christmas breakfast! Which includes ham and buckwheat pancakes with fresh raspberries and cream! AMAZING! I am hungry just thinking about them! We played games and then headed back to my sister's house for our family gifts. Really it was just a day full of family, food and fun! the next day we went up to visit Kendall and Mel and made crepes with my new crepe maker (which is freakin' AWESOME! Thank you love!) and then hung out with my fam that night and played games. Sunday was great too, we had the Cottam family party, and then got to hang out with Kent and Bethy (who surprised us all with a visit from Nebraska!) After all of that we were kinda sorry to be home...it was a great Christmas, not too stressful at all!

Here is a picture of our tree this year!

And of the stockings...Santa really loved me because he left me a HUGE potato in mine!

As for the new decor this year I made garland for my pot shelves...I think they turned out great! Here is a close-up of the cinnamon ornaments!

Christmas Pictures 2009

Here is the selection of Christmas pictures this year. Once again my good friend Jami Bonner took our pictures! She is AMAZING! Thank you Jami!

Not me Monday

I am not super excited to see my family this week for thanksgiving...but at the same time I am not super sad that I am leaving Kyle at home.

I was not told today by a complete stranger that my sneeze is adorable.

I did not accidentally call 911 today.

I did not eat a potato for breakfast today. You would think I eat enough of them during the other hours of the day!

I do not hate kidney infections.

I am not upset that my casual Fridays at work got taken away.

I am not still waiting for my new phone at work. And I do not anxiously chase down any and all packages that come into the office :)

Not me Monday

I do not love a good McDonald's breakfast. It is my guilty pleasure.

I do not hate it when Kyle goes on work trips.

Thus because of the previous statement I am not looking forward to this week being over. This is sad...Kyle has only been gone a little over an hour. It is going to be one long week!

I am not starting my Christmas shopping this week. I just hope that I am a smart shopper and that Kyle likes what I get!

I did not really like the movie Up. And we both did not cry in it either.

I am not going to see New Moon this weekend and I am not leaving Kyle at home because he made fun of Twilight. Since Twilight I have not left him home for chick flicks.

I am not so excited to get a headset for my phone at work! It is so AWESOME!! I feel like a kid at Christmas!

Not me Monday

I am not a huge fan of hand sanitizer. Especially when I am at work among so many students.

I do not love a good cup of hot chocolate on a cold morning...especially when you get to sit and hold the mug and it warms up your hands!

I do not get frustrated at work when people say they are going to do something then don't...but then when someone else asks them they do it immediately. Blah.

I do not hate being sick. I think that I slept all weekend long...and I didn't get done what I needed to get done so now I feel even more behind.

I am not excited to go and see the Forgotten Carols. Sue came into work asking about them because she was invited to go...that was when I realized they would be down in St. George! So Kyle and I are officially having a date night in December to go and see them and I am really looking forward to it!

I am not counting down the days that I have left in this semester. And the number is not 7 classes left.

I am also not counting down the weeks until I get to put up Christmas. And it is not 2 1/2 weeks :)

I do not love our new shelves in the garage and laundry room. They look totally AWESOME! Kyle had a very productive Saturday last weekend. (Pictures to come soon!)

Halloween 2009

This year Halloween was not what I expected it to be. It was quiet...too quiet! We had a total of three trick or treaters, and one of my two pumpkins was totally rotten when I tried to carve it! (It was really, really yucky!) I did get to watch "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" but really it was just quiet. Here are some photos of the house and decor!

Yes I know another picutre of the house...but I was trying to show off my tombstones! Those little LED lights that flickered made them AWESOME!

My pumpkin...he was named Bugga Boo!

Not me Friday

I do not love the smell of pumpkins when they are carved! That smell reminds me of Halloween more than anything else and brings back childhood memories!

I did not eat breakfast type food for the last 4 out of 5 nights this week. (And no ironically it was not all cereal!)

I did not process 29 transcripts today for the same person. It cost the student $116.00 and sadly there was only one whole class on their record! (And it was like an Acting I class...) And I couldn't help wonder what in the world she is going to do with 29 copies of her transcript.

I did not forget to go to the bathroom today because I was so busy at work...and for me that is pretty hard to do!

This week Kyle and I did not go to the store and buy all frozen food items. So sad, but true.

I did not get a whole lot of wierd looks today because I wore my Halloween costume. Seriously people, who wouldn't want to dress up?!

Not Me Wednesday/Thursday

I am not planning Christmas decorations for the office (including putting up a tree!)

I did not cause a breaker to shut off when I turned on the computer, iron and space heater in our office. I think that it is all the space heater's fault...

I am not hoping and praying that the snow melts here in Cedar for Halloween...those poor trick or treaters having to wear their coats with their costumes...I remember having to do that as a kid and I HATED it. That and all my Halloween decorations are covered in snow. :(

I am not probably going to FRANCE next summer for a study abroad. My boss approved my time off, I was so surprised! And so I have not already though about what to pack...hehe...for those that know I plan what I am going to take way too far in advance...and I've done that my whole life, for girls camp, EFY, etc...

I am not excited for my new phone in my office...it is awesome! But I not having a hard time finding a ring that I like and that won't drive me crazy hearing it all day!

I am not wanting to bring in a movie to our conference room that just got mediated. It is seriously awesome. The guy that was installing everything yesterday had Harry Potter in as a trial run. I did not want to go back to work! :)

I am not already looking forward to the weekend after next. Is that a bad thing? Probably.

Not me Tuesday

This idea I stole from Lissa...which is the part of her blog that I love the most because it makes me laugh and you really see her personality coming out! So I thought that I would start this tradition as well.

• I have not been singing Christmas carols all week. You would think that since I am such a Halloween nut I would stick with the current holiday.
• I did not just seriously contemplate keeping the huge box that our new work shredder came in so that I could take it home and make a fort.
• I am not afraid to talk to my boss about doing a study abroad next summer.
• I have not had to fix my halloween decorations like 4 times because of the wind...grr...stupid wind! Thank goodness I am handy with a glue gun!

I will leave it at that for the moment...it is harder to come up with these that I thought it would be!

Halloween decorations!

It is so fun to decorate a house! Here is a few pictures of the halloween decorations that have gone up! Please feel free to come trick or treating at the Cottam household...I promise that we will have good candy given to children of all ages! I will try and take some better ones and repost them!

These are the cute spirit jugs that line our entryway!

This is one of the tombstones...they look a whole lot cooler in real life because the little light just outlines them...so they look spooky!

The halloween quilt that I made this season! (Thanks again Amy for getting the fabric for me!) I think it turned out really cute!

A close shot of the fabric:

Five years today!

Today is officially our five year anniversary! And what a wonderful 5 years it has been! I cannot believe how the time has flown by, but then again cannot imagine my life any differently. Kyle brought in some beautiful flowers into my office and we had a great dinner at Rusty's. Love you my honey! You are the best!

The first weeks of school...

Can I just say that the first weeks of school are crazy! The office for me has finally slowed down, but Kyle is in full swing with work. All of my free time is taken up with my two French classes....and when I say all, I mean ALL! It has been rough, but I am trying to keep a good attitude. And I had to put myself back in perspective with my spiritual education...if I was spending at least 4 hours a night on homework, I should at least devote some of my time to my scripture study too! My French is getting better, and I've started having days when I walk away feeling good about myself and how my French is doing. Although I do have those days when I walk away not really knowing what the discussion was really about...and today may or maynot have been one of those days!

It is nice to have students back on campus...and really fun to go to the games with Kyle! He has started a new sport this season...volleyball! Love it, love it, love it! He is getting comfortable with it, and I'm super proud of him!

I think that is pretty much it for the Cottam family...just work, sports, homework and callings...(Which I get a new one this weekend, and it should be no surprise to anyone. Except me, since I thought after 4 years of YW's I would be done for a bit. I guess that isn't the case...I wonder what lesson I was supposed to learn.)

Updates, updates, updates!

Updates were officially requested so here they are!

The month of August was very busy for the Cottam household! We visited family, had family visit us, had new callings and had work pick up. I guess I should just start at the beginning!

The first weekend in August we went up to Cherry Hill to camp/play with most of the Cottam clan (Kent, Beth and Melissa were sorely missed and I hope they get to come next year!) We had a great time! We drove up on Friday night...I was a bit overwhelmed by how many people were there! I guess I was just expecting a bit more room to have the camp site! We walked around, played a bit and mostly just enjoyed the family that night! When we got up the next morning it was a bit cold and it was cloudy, but I think this worked out in our favor since it kept the crowds down for the water stuff! We played miniature golf, went down the fun slides, enjoyed a good game of Airoball, which Kyle and Kendall were the experts at (I think the rest of us tried really hard but never really got it!) Probably one of the best things was the lazy river! Me, Courtney and Kyle just floated and relaxed! It was so nice! We stayed the night again and headed home on Sunday. We really just had a fun time, good food and great family!

After we headed home, Mom and Dad Cottam headed down our way. They came for the Shakespeare Festival but visited us too! We got to go and see the Secret Garden with them on Thursday! It was good...but I was a bit disappointed with the actor who portrayed Archibald. He didn't project on certain songs! But we had a good time anyways. Then on Friday Kim and her boy Mark came and stayed with us! We played loads of games, we out to breakfast with them and Mom and Dad Cottam, and went swimming. Then on Sunday when they left JaNae and Na came and stayed with us until Wednesday! (Obviously we had a really full house!) We were able to spend a lot of time with them on Sunday, but after that they had plays and dinner each night...so we really were just a B&B! I have to admit that the weekend that followed was a nice one! I didn't go anywhere or do too much!

Church updates: Kyle got put back in YM's as the first counselor...again! I've been filling in for the ward choir pianist, which has been an interesting experience.

School has officially started, and thus our work schedules have been crazy! Kyle has already started up with sports, and is traveling this weekend with the volleyball team to TX. Volleyball is a new team this year, so it is taking extra work on Kyle's part on learning the new program. My office has been very busy, but to me it is just job security! I've also started my own classes: FREN 4640, which is a French Caribbean lit class and FREN 4510, a translation class. They started yesterday. The lit class is by far the hardest. It is with a new instructor who is a native speaker. Between the new vocab, the rapid speaking and the accent I had such a hard time with it! I made a promise to myself that I would stick it out for two weeks...and I know that this will really help my French if I can just stay with it!

Living Room Furniture!

We finally have furniture for our living room! It came yesterday afternoon. We picked it out a few weeks ago from Ashley Furniture in St. George. I promise...we will take off the tags, I was just too excited to post pictures that I forgot! :)


My favorite piece...the comfy chair!

24th of July/ Visit from the Mannos Family

What a great weekend! On the 24th we had a nice lazy day...I love those days when you can just do what you want to do and not worry about having to be anywhere or impress anyone. I worked on my shelf...and completed it with some help from Kyle (He even helped with the stenciling!). I was thoroughly impressed with Kyle's craftiness and handyman help.

As he was putting up the decor on the shelf (I was too short to reach) he placed the heart in the love forward instead of having it in a straight line like I wanted it to be...so we needed to do something to make the decision! As a 24th of July tradition we have tank battles. We went to the firework store that day and could not find any. So we had to think out of the box and use turtles (They basically did the same thing...so it worked!) So we decided that we would have a turtle battle to decide which way the heart would go. It was pretty even to begin with, until I lit Kyle's on fire with my sparkler...but then Kyle did the same. Afterwards...when we could actually see the damage, Kyle won. Here is the pictures of the carnage! Saturday was spent cleaning, working on my talk for Sunday and just relaxing!

On Monday Amy, TJ and kids came down to visit! I was so happy to see them! We rode bikes, played at the park, had a yummy dinner, had FHE and was able to just enjoy their company...here are some pictures of fun at the park!

The Craziness that is the Cottam household

We have officially moved into our house! And can I just say that I love it? :) Here is how the weekend went:

Friday: Friday was our big packing/moving boxes day...We took like six trips from the apt. to the new house. Also Friday was the day that Sonnett moved in with us, and can I just say that she and her dad were LIFESAVERS! They drove down in their truck, so we utilized their services! We got the majority of the boxes moved that day...I was very surprised with how much we could fit in our Subaru :)
Saturday: Saturday was the "official" moving day. We were supposed to borrow our neighbor's moving truck, but we couldn't get it to start! Not the way that we wanted to start out the day...so I called a few friends that I served with in YW's. I love the fact that there are people in your life that you can call and at a moment's notice they drop everything they are doing and rescue you! Terri came with her truck and Rochelle lent us her trailer. It was a perfect fit! The move in only took about a half hour (Since we don't have that much furniture! That and there weren't any stairs!) We spent the day getting settled and I got started on my talk. Kyle was the official home decorator and even hung the kitchen decor!

Sunday: What an emotional day! I spoke in sacrament meeting, and when brother Farnsworth said I was speaking and that we were moving I just started crying! Thankfully I got through the talk (which I went over my time...and I was worried about not having enough!) And then the RS lesson, which I was introduced as Meaghan "the traitor" Cottam, which went well. And then we attended the BBQ for ward choir.

Monday: Monday was just a busy normal day at the office, but that night I went to a dinner for my co-worker Kathy who retired. We went to the Garden House! Yummy! I had salmon (which I got grief from Kyle about when I got home cause I ate the whole thing) It was so good just to sit and talk...good food and good friends! I totally ruined Kathy's present...I was so embarrassed! We got her an engraved jewelry box and three sets of Lia Sophia jewelry...and like the awesome person I am, when she started opening the different boxes I shout out "Which set it that?!" (So she knew what else was in the box! Everyone started laughing so hard at me...Valeena captured the moment perfectly!

Can I just say that Lindsey is such a great boss?! She ordered one of each of the desserts and had them bring out 10 spoons for us to share! It was AWESOME!

Tuesday: What a crazy day! I was in charge of the retirement party for Kathy...which was for over 200 people! I'm glad that it is over, but really sad that Kathy is gone! We had such a great turnout! Just to show what when into this party:

Here is the display:

Here is the Veteran Day Program posters that I made...Kathy put on this program since 1988.

I made a sign-in book...

Me and Kathy:
The office:
Valeena and Netta:
We had a special guest that came...Kathy loves Tom Selleck. LOVES Tom Selleck. Please note that this is really the body of Elvis and the head of Tom...but I think that it turned out looking pretty darn good!
This was her reaction when she saw him!
Karleen came down to visit! I was so happy!
Why is it that when it rains it pours? All in all, great things happened, but I am just worn out! I think that my stress level will go down significantly when I have all of the boxes unpacked and can actually find what I need at home. :)

Julia's Wedding/Trip to Denver

We headed on the road last weekend for my cousin Julia's wedding in Denver CO. Kyle and I drove to Green River WY...and met Daddy, Ma and Carrie there. We beat them there by about an hour and a half, and it is such a small town that I didn't have reception on my cellphone, so they didn't know where to meet us! Finally they decided to think like Megs...where would she be? THE PARK! And sure enough, that is where they found us! We continued on the road, snugly joining Carrie in the back seat (I am really glad that we are a close family). We had some good laughs, mostly from playing name that tune off of Carrie's Ipod...no one else could hear the music...so they had to guess from Kyle and my's singing. Some...well most of the songs we didn't know...which is where the game got funny! Once we got there Aunt Sandy fed us dinner and we headed to the hotel to crash. The next day was just a day to relax...we got up and ate breakfast with Papa, swam, went shopping, swam again, went to dinner with just the adults, and stayed up late playing games with Carrie, Amy and TJ. (Where Kyle and Carrie had a rival, and everyone was convinced that Amy and I were cheating. Which we weren't. Just because she wasn't going to win, she figured that she might as well pass on what I needed!) The next day was the wedding! It was a Lutheran wedding...which I had never attended one before. It was beautiful, but really long! (After the actual wedding they had a full communion) We sat on the third row...so one would think that I would have gotten to see it all...but I had Daddy and Uncle Hank in front of me. So I saw NOTHING! Thankfully about half way through, Kyle traded me places which helped. Then we headed straight to the reception, which was at a country club up the canyon. It was beautiful! They had a beautiful view and the decorations were wonderful. Dinner was good...the best part being the yummy salad dressing (I know weird...but it was so good!) Then all of the traditional toasts, cake stuff and dances. We were one of the first to leave...and that was at 10:30. I was so tired! We got on the road early the next morning and headed home. It was nice to be home. :) Here are some of the photos, I forgot to take pictures most of the time, I'll just have to get Amy's!

HOUSE!

Last Tuesday we got the good news that the bank accepted our offer on the house! We have to close by June 30, 2009, but we are hoping to close sooner than that! Here is what it looks like!

From the front:

From the back:

Out the back door: Note that it is on a 1/2 acre...the property line is where the fences change colors!

The entryway:

View from the front door: (On the left is the garage door and then the stairs...then the hallway to the laundry room and master.)

The front room:

The kitchen:

The other side of the front room:

The master: (Showing the walk-in closet)

The master bath:

One of the other two bedrooms:

The other bath:

The great room above the garage:

From the other side:
The garage: