Please visit my new blog!

Hi to the 20 peeps that visit my blog.  So, as you can see by my link on the left, I have a new blog full of my pop culture ramblings.  I was really gung-ho at first, then kind of slowed down.  Right now, there's a lot about the "Bachelor" but I'm going to be posting more.  So please add this to your list and send me some love! :)

www.momknowspopculture.com

Holiday Pictures

Here's some pics from our holidays.

Dutch Christmas Party - on the first Saturday of December, John's siblings, spouses and the kids celebrate their Dutch heritage by celebrating Dutch Christmas.  We go to the Dutch Store by our house and meet Sinter Klaus and Zwarte Pete.  Then, we go over to Jen and Brandon's for a Dutch dinner, treats, games and then the kids leave their Dutch shoes out (filled with hay and carrots for the reindeer) and Sinter Klaus fills them with goodies.

G.G. and Kent (John's mom and step dad) took all of us up to the Hogle Zoo to see the Zoo Lights and have hot chocolate.  It was REALLY cold that night -- lots of wind -- but we had a lot of fun.

Christmas Party at GG and Kent's where we continued our tradition of gingerbread decorating (this year we did trains), had dinner and did our present exchange.  Chad (my BIL) loves this picture because it makes his bicep look so huge.  Em, this is for you to take and put on Chad's FB!

Mortimer Christmas Eve party - we have dinner, a really irreverent nativity although Sparky and Holly tried really hard to make it more normal than usual (see Katie as the camel), Santa Claus (my bro Dave) comes and this year, we had a hilarious White Elephant game.  Here's Jennie with the creepy CPR baby that Brad brought and Jimmy wearing some funky stretchy shirt that Dave and Shelley donated.  Jimmy convinced Katie to take it and now its a part of our dress-ups.

Christmas day was a blur.  Katie, for the first time ever, woke up early (we usually have to GET her up).  We had a nice Christmas morning.  Then, it was off for our "Four Christmases" (Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn have nothing on us).  We picked up my dad from CareSource and took him up to the house, spent a little time up there and exchanged presents.  Then, we rushed off to Silverado (an Alzheimer's Care Center) to visit with John's grandpa, step-grandma, dad and step-mom.  Next stop, was CareSource again to see Grandma Rees, John's grandma who is my dad's neighbor.  Finally, we went up to GG and Kent's for dinner and games.  Crazy day!

Hope you all had a GREAT Christmas!!!

New Year, New Me

Wow.  I had no idea how much of my life was really sucked up by my job at Utah Family.  I've emailed friends and family and posted on FB, but in case you're not in the know -- I quit my job on January 2nd.  I don't want to go into details, but let's just say that even though its for the best, it was really hard to let it go.  Fortunately, I'm doing some contract work for a dental assisting school that my friend works at -- working on their website and helping students write their resumes.  And I've got other resumes out and I'm focusing on freelancing.  I'm kind of throwing the spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.

I definitely feel in limbo, a little depressed AND a little bit gleeful.  It's very strange.  But the most important thing is that my job was consuming me and now I'm forced out of my comfort zone.  I'm taking on a new challenge to get my life back and find the NEW ME!

Part of this commission is to do more things I enjoy.  And blogging is one of those things.  I took a failed attempt at quitting blogging back in May, because I thought it was the right thing and I was wasting my time.  But I realize now it's just that I honestly had no free time and being on the Internet for fun really just felt like an extension of work.  Even in the last few days, I've been so liberated not being glued to my laptop.  So when I'm on it now, it's because I want to be.

As you know, I love dishing about Pop Culture.  So, I decided it was high time that I started a new blog devoted only to that.  Hut-234 is going to be focused on my personal and family life.  And my other one will be about all things entertainment.  So, check out: www.momknowspopculture.com.  I wanted to do something about Mom and Pop Culture, but I'm obviously WAY behind on the mom blogging about entertainment trend.  There is a TON of stuff like that out there.  So, I may not be the first -- or the most original -- but really, I'm just doing this for me.  John is making me a great header and I'm hoping to add more to it, but I hope you'll visit and enjoy!

Happy New Year!!!