Evidence Of A Social Life

Exhibit A. The Marshall family - minus Bianca :(

Exhibit B. The Smith Family

We were invited over by the Marshall family to eat a yummy dinner made by Bianca (thanks Bianca - it was awesome!) and play games. The Smith family joined us in the fun - which made it all the better. Since we aren't in any of these pictures, you'll just have to take our word for it that they are our friends and not just images we found on Google. ::cough, cough::

And following a night with the Marshall and Smith family, we joined forces with the Craig family once again. Lali cooked an awesome meal of Fajitas (they were awesome!)I should have taken pictures of Matt and Terbear's Wii competition (which involved trying to beat each others scores for two hours). But of course, silly me, pictures were not on my mind at 12:45 a.m. Go figure. Here's the picture I did get, though.

Terbear will be such a good daddy one day! He just loves little Mia!
So thus ends my documented proof that the Burner family does have a social life.

(See, I told you so!)

The Burners Come to AZ

How to torture your husband

1. Tell him to buy Utah Jazz tickets and invite his family to come with.

2. Sit next to him during the game and talk about girl stuff

3. Take a picture while his team is losing

4. Ask to retake the picture because you didnt like the first one.

(proof of my torture in the picture above - just look at that face!!!!)

Colton was really good at torturing his family too.

And then we tortured each other. Two peas in a pod.

Jazz coaches crying over their loss....

Oh the excitement!

(L to R: Mom Burner, Dad Burner, Cord and Derek)

Thanks Burner family for coming all the way from Utah to stay with us for the weekend!

See you at Christmas!

The Night We Chimi'ed our Chori

The Craig family came over tonight to eat chimichurri with their choripan. What is chimichurri you ask? A whole lot of awesomeness in a bottle. And choripan? A little slice of heaven between rock hard bread. :::sigh::: I miss Argentina. But Matt served his mission in Argentina, Lali is from Mexico and my husband cooks choripan like an Argentine- so...yeah...it was almost like the REAL thing.

See that green stuff on the bread? That's chimichurri in all its awesomeness. Don't bash it until you try it! (P.S. Thanks Mike and Bianca for the chimichurri sauce!!!)

And to top it all off, we formed a white trash band (complete with a singer named Hoochita covered in tats) and toured around the world. Yeah, we totally rock.

Thanks Craig family!

Happy Turkey Day!

Enjoy Your Day!

The Spirit of Thanksgiving Past

Where I spent Thanksgiving last year...

Where I am spending Thanksgiving this year...

Talk about a change of scenery.

Run, Turkey, Run!

Hey, so what are you doing on 11/27/08? Probably nothing. Which is exactly why you should run in the Turkey Trot 2 mile run with me and hopefully some friends

::hint, hint::, ::wink, wink::, ::nudge, nudge::

Listen, you know you want to. I mean nothing says Thanksgiving like sweating your guts out at 8:30am. AND its only 2 miles, so even if you had to walk a little/some/all of it, you would still be the coolest person in my book. You could possibly even army crawl it - but I'll deny that we came together.Anyhoo, I think you should do it. With me. On 11/27/08. With a smile. Why? Because you like me and friends dont let other friends run alone on Thanksgiving day.

P.S. Did my guilt trip work? If not, please let me know where I failed so I can try this on those that dont read my blog. They'll never see it coming...

GOT MOJO?

Its all about the mojo. Creative mojo that is. So here is what I have been doing with my creative mojo. All projects were completed under $10, by the way! You can still have mojo and be cheap!

Before:

After

Before:

After:

Yes that is painter tape you see in the window. No comment on how long it has been there. Wouldn't those fence things look awesome with some spanish moss and three pumpkins in a row with a small "harvest" sign hanging in the middle? :::sigh::: There's always next year... this year I decided to use what I have! Oh - and I want to send a HUGE thanks to Keri and Angie who let me buy both of these super cute holders for $1.25 for the pair (!) at their kickin' garage sale. LOVE YA LADIES!!

I just had to copy the pumpkins-on-the-candlestick look

I bought these two topiaries for $10 each at Kirkland Home store. It was the best price I have found for topiaries that height (although I plan on adding a little something-something to the bottom part). And I left the dishes in the sink because I was too lazy to take them out of the sink for the picture.

I am SO excited about this find! I am going to do this to these hinged closet doors. I found them at Goodwill for $4.99 for the pair. Oh why, oh why does Goodwill love me?

What's Up With Rachel?

Seriously! What is up with me?! My blog went from lame to super lame recently because I never post. Don't worry ladies - I can admit when I am totally lame. I do want to post some projects that I have been working on, so I'll do those soon! And I was tagged a million years ago and still haven't done it. So here are 7 facts about me that you probably never knew (or wanted to know) about me. Lucky you!

1. I didn't shave my legs for a year and a half. Yep that's right - 1.5 years of hairy legs. I'll spare you the pictures. I made a "secret combination" with another sister missionary in the MTC that we would both go a year and a half with hairy legs. And. I. did. The long skirts and nylons helped hide the hair...uhm, most of the time. (As a side note it took 5 razors to get all the hair off my legs - yikes!)

2. Opera is my favorite type of music. There - I said it. My dirty confession is out. On my 21st birthday, instead of partying like a rock star, I chose to see Pavarotti live in concert. It was the best concert I have ever been to. And a dream come true. Yes- I am a true Italian.

3. I have 100 goals to accomplish before I die. When I was a teenager I read a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul about a boy who set goals and spent his whole life achieving them. In college, I wrote out a list of goals to complete before I die. One goal : Run a marathon around Mount Everest. Aim high, ladies. Aim high.

4. Foreign films rock my socks. I love foreign films. My favorite foreign film? La Vita E Bella. A must see. Here's one of my favorite scenes where the main character is trying to get attention of the woman he loves (who is engaged to another man).


5. I love a good deal (a.k.a I am cheap). The thrill of the hunt is like a drug to me. And when I see how much I save at the checkout stand, I feel like I hit the jackpot and practically dance out of the store. Who needs drugs when you have coupons and garage sales to give you a high?! Seriously.

6. I was engaged to my husband three times before I married him. Or maybe more. I lost count after three. The thought of being married scared me to death. My poor husband. He is the sweetest, most loving husband in the world. And he lets me call him "Terbear" in front of his friends. Best. Husband. Ever. Every day I feel so lucky that he stuck around for me :)

7. One day, I will beat the turkey. Every Thanksgiving Arizona has a Turkey Trot 10K race. A man dresses up in turkey suit to run the race. He paces himself to run 6.2 miles in 45 minutes. My goal is run faster than this man in the turkey suit. Maybe this year...or something.

Let Freedom Ring!

Our bishop showed us this commercial made by the Catholic church to encourage their members to vote. It was so beautifully made that I can't help but share it with you guys on election day. No matter what religion you are, it is your responsibilty is to make sure YOUR voice is heard and to stand for truth! God bless America! (P.S. You still have time to let your voice be heard.)

Call all Thrifty Thriftersons...

Do you just looovve saving money? Does finding awesome deals that save you LOADS of money rock your world? If so, I found the right opportunity for you! Kolina at Provident Living Az is hosting a free coupon class in Queen Creek, Arizona on 11/8/08. If you are interested in attending, contact her here. Don't miss an awesome opportunity to keep more mulah in your pocket for what you really want to buy!!

Need A Reason To Shop?

Melissa at 320 Sycamore posted an awesome deal for Bath and Body Works and Shutterfly. Click on the link to check them out! Its never too early to be thrifty for the holidays. Enjoy!

So I Have A Hunch...

I know my past post said I would be better about posting but I think I told a fib. I've had a pinched nerve in my back for the last couple of weeks which makes moving, sitting, standing, or any other type of motion you can think of virtually impossible. You know its bad when your husband lovingly calls you "Quasimodo" (!) Yes, I married a comedian. Jealous? I try to look at the positive side...I can claim I am celebrating the essence of Halloween a week early. When in Rome, right? (I know - totally wrong time to use that phase but I figure I can do whatever I want when I look like a hunchback.) I'm just trying to figure out how I'll pull off my new look at Thanksgiving...

During my hiatus from blogging...

I visited here...

Ate bread on a stick...

And was gifted this from my MIL (no - I am not currently expecting!)

I'm hoping it brings us good luck!

Promise I'll be back to my normal blogging self soon!!! :)

Happiness

There is no better title for this post!! Did you hear the awesome news?! The church has purchased land in Cordoba, Argentina to build a temple! And as if the news couldn't get any better, our beloved prophet also announced a temple to be built in Rome, Italy - the country of my father's family. As I listened to the prophet, I couldn't contain my tears of gladness and joy for the members of these countries who are so faithful and deserving of these blessings! I stand in awe at all the incredible blessings our Heavenly Father continues to give us freely as His children.

Bippity-Boppity, Give Me The Sopity!

Rewind to our long layover in San Francisco before arriving in Idaho. I looove San Francisco! When I was a little girl, it was family tradition that on every special or monumental occasion, my parents would treat our family to an It's-It bar. It is heaven on earth between two chocolate covered oatmeal cookies - found only in San Francisco. So obviously, I was bound and determine to eat one while waiting for our plane. My husband told me there was no chance in finding one since they are a "downtown" commodity. What my husband didn't know is that I am the type of woman who, if I know what I want, and I want it bad enough, I will do whatever it takes to get it. (And I usually totally and completely embarrass him along the way.)

As I was contemplating how I was going to get my It's-It bar without missing my flight, I was approached by an airport worker. Because I have a big mouth and I talk to anyone in sight (a lovely blessing from my mission), I struck up a conversation with this worker. Me: Hey listen, do you know where I can get an It's-It bar? Airport Worker: A what? Me: An IT'S-IT bar! Airport Worker:(Laughing) Oh yeah! But its under security around here. Me: (Leaning forward, in a hushed voice) Do you have an inside for me? Airport worker: ::silence:: Me: ::silence and way too intense about an ice cream bar::: Airport worker: Uhm...yeah. Give me the money and I'll get you one.

My husband had just walked into the end of the conversation and I told him to give the guy $5 dollars. With a confused look on his face, my hubby passed a five dollar bill to the worker and the worker took off like lightening. After explaining the situation to my husband, he shook his head and said " Well, there goes five dollars!" After reassuring my husband that the worker was going to come back, after 10 minutes I began to wonder if I really had been duped. We both had a good laugh about it until we saw the airport worker coming back with two It's-It bars in his hands and our change! My husband's jaw dropped and I was grinning ear to ear. Needless to say, my faith in humanity prevailed that day! That airport worker got an awesome tip that day and my husband now knows not to underestimate the power of a determined woman with a plan!

The Love that Binds Us Forever...

This weekend we took a trip to Twin Falls to do some genealogy work. In our religion, we have beautiful, large white buildings we call temples. Inside of them, we perform work to link our families together forever. Terrence was able to help his family with this and it was an amazing experience. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity we have on earth to bind our families together forever. I feel so much love for my ancestors who have gone before me and created a legacy for me to be proud of. Although death in this life (at some point) is certain, I know that if I remain faithful to what I have promised my Heavenly Father, I can live with Him and my family again.

What more could anyone ask for?

The Pile of Dirt I Call My Backyard

What to say about our backyard...well, it is probably the size the computer desk you are sitting in front. Literally. Pros: We don't have to mow a lawn or maintain a large yard regularly. Cons: We dont have enough area to even have a lawn (picture me cutting our grass with scissors because a lawnmower won't fit - its that small!).

So, I've decided to do something to somewhat beautify it until we can do something about it! I found some hanging planters at Goodwill a while ago. They were lime green and pumpkin orange. While those are awesome colors, it just didnt mesh with the look I was going for. So I gave them a little bath in black spray paint and pulled out some artificial flowers I saved from my wedding. I hung a wreath in the middle to pull it all together and complete the "fall" look. Those of us from Arizona know there is no such season as fall here, so fake fall will have to do!

Why the close up shot? Because the far away shot looks like this...

Yikes! See that burnt weed? My husband and I joke about decorating it for Christmas. It is the only "growing" thing in our yard. Something is better than nothing, right? I removed the planters and wreath for now since the temperatures are still scorching hot! Remember these wreaths? The ones that get the most sun time aren't really green anymore! So, I think I will wait for Mr. Sun to take a vacation before I hang my backyard decorations up again. I certainly don't need more brown plants in my backyard!

A Picture Says 1,000 Words (Or Much Less..)

My name (almost):

Place I'd like to travel to:

Town where I was born:

My age:

Past Love:

Favorite Color:

Favorite Food (minus the beer):

Favorite Animal:

Favorite Place:

Past Pet:

Favorite Object:

Bad Habit: