Merry Christmas

{Picture of my nieces Sara and Caia.}

Merry Christmas to all of you!

I hope you have a wonderful day with your families and loved ones.

{Go here for a wonderful message.}

One year older, one year wiser.

I just celebrated another year of being born. I am 32 years old.

I know as women we seem to get a little shyer about admitting our getting older. But why be shy? I am getting older, not old. I believe another year of life is always something that should be viewed as a blessing and I do feel so blessed!

My dear friend Brett planned a splendid birthday celebration for me. On Saturday night some of my close friends and I went to The Paris Bistro in Salt Lake to have some delicious cuisine and enjoy one another's company. As I sat at dinner I couldn't help but be filled with joy and gratitude for such wonderful people in my life.

That same feeling of joy and gratitude filled my heart on Sunday night when I celebrated my birthday with my family. My cute mother had been sick with a cold along with most of my siblings. Nonetheless she whipped up the most delicious meal and cake.

So here is to the 32nd year of my life. There are new goals to be met, more wisdom to be learned and more memories to be made!

{P.S. Thanks to all of you lovelies that made it such a special day!}

Gingerbread Fun

**Winter Song**

{A little song to warm your souls my dear friends.} 

{Love is alive.}

{xo-Bev}

"I'm a Princess too."

This past Saturday I had a date with my niece Sara. She is 3, but acts about 3 times older than her real age. We went to see The Princess and the Frog. I've never seen a little girl more excited for her day out with Aunt Bevy. As she sat in her booster seat in the theatre her eyes widened as the movie started and she started giggling and squealing with excitement.

Afterwards we went to eat pizza and talked about the movie. I asked her what her favorite part was.

She said:

"The part where the frogs become the Prince and the Princess!"

I said, "Oh yes I really liked that part. Don't you think the Princess was so pretty?"

She replied in her smart 3 year old high pitched voice, "Oh yes she is so pretty. I am a Princess too you know."

I said, "Oh really?"

"Yes Bevy we are all Princesses!"

"I guess we are Sara, thanks for reminding me. You are so pretty too, did you know that?"

"I know" she said, "I really am pretty."

Aaah to have the confidence of a 3 year old and to be so sure of it. One of the many reasons I adore to be around little children.

Temple Square: A place unlike any other

Right smack dab in the heart of Salt Lake City is Temple Square where its charm and history are still very much alive. Every Christmas season there are thousands of twinkly lights strung up on the trees, mangers aglow and hundreds of people bundled up enjoying all of it. It had been several years since I'd been up to see the beautiful sights. So glad I got to go this year.

{We ran into President Uchtdorf --might have made my night complete, just a titch!}

Paradise met my expectations...

We basked in the sun.

We played in the ocean.

We ate pineapple to our heart's content.

We enjoyed sunsets on the beach.

We hiked along the Na Pali coastline-words cannot describe its beauty.

Kauai was a little piece of heaven on earth.

I hope to go back someday!

Let the Holiday cheer begin!

{This pic is of my brother Mark on Christmas morning of '08.  I love this pic for how cozy the whole setting looks.}

December is here which means the Holiday season is upon us, and oh how I love it.  

This month means we all get to focus more on our Savior and his birth-that right there is more than enough to celebrate.

On top of that I get to spend Christmas with all of my family, eat loads of yummy holiday food{and try to not gain 10 pounds},watch all those cheesy Christmas movies,  & Temple square lights to name a few.

Tis a grand time of year-truly!

{P.S. Kauai pics to come soon.}

Fancy Feast

Last Sunday my tummy was happy, oh yes it was!  

Ashlee and I decided to have an early Thanksgiving party at our place.  Neither of us had ever cooked a turkey before, so we knew we were in for an adventure.  Luckily our mom's have been cooking turkey's for years and helped us along the way.  

We went all out decorating the house-we think Martha Stewart would be proud.  We spray painted pumpkins and gourds gold, we had a million candles everywhere, white lights on the ceiling, good music, good food and most importantly good company-about 30 in total.  The evening was wonderful and for first time turkey cooks I would say we got an "A" on the assignment.

{Yes we pulled out the construction paper and had our guests make pilgrim hats and Indian head dresses-one is never too old for construction paper fun!}   

Hot drink, Sweet treat

I think I have mentioned before my weakness for the smell of coffee. Well since I am LDS and can't have coffee I like to substitute with other delicious hot drinks that I can have. I made a real yummy one the other day. I got gingerbread spice herbal tea, honey and some soy milk. Oh dear friends please do try it, you will just love the taste swirling around in your mouth. I just made some and am really enjoying it while I study and listen to Christmas music. Yes you heard that correctly Christmas music...I couldn't resist.

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago we took family pictures.  In true Santamaria fashion, the minute we got there it started raining as our photographer was telling us where to pose.  We took a couple pictures and then went to our cars to wait it out.  Luckily the rain stopped after about 20 minutes...feew!  

Here are some of my favorites.  I need your help.  My mom can't decide which one of these three she wants to put up over the fireplace mantel.  What do you think??

Today

Today I felt God's love for me.

Today I really enjoyed my morning jog, feeling the crisp air on my face, and hearing the leaves crunch beneath my feet.

Today I caught a vision of who I really want to be and where I'm going.

Today I gained a deeper appreciation for good friends.

Today I got super excited for my trip to Kauai...18 days and counting!

Today I said a little prayer in my heart for all those I love, that all will be well with them.

Today my mouth watered as I had thoughts of an amazing Thanksgiving feast...I love Thanksgiving food.

Today was a good day, because I made sure that it would be.

Autumn day in the park...

Happy Halloween

I know I am a grown up, but I still love dressing up. It's the funnest thing to be a new person for an evening. I totally got into my role as Pocahontus.

No worries me and my friends don't go trick-or-treating. We do know where to draw the line.

Happy Halloween and have a good weekend!

SpOoKy

October is the month of everything scary. Well I guess not everything is necessarily scary, pumpkins are cute right? But you know all that goes along with the Halloween spirit. Ghosts, witches, men in scary white masks. I actually love Halloween and all it entails. I've been getting into the spirit of it all as usual. Apparently so has my family. Let me tell you a spooky story.

Last week I went over to my parents house. I wanted to show my mom my sweater I got for our family photos on Saturday-to make sure it coordinated with the color scheme she had chosen.

I walk in the house, the lights are on. I yell, "Mom!" Nothing, not a sound.

I thought to myself, "Hmmm...Marta is going deaf, I should yell louder."

"MOM!!!"

Nothing.

So then I started yelling other names of family members.

Nothing.

I look down the basement stairs, it was dark. So I thought, "I bet she went on a walk."

I decided to warm up some food and wait for her. While warming up the food I hear very loud music coming from the basement. I look down the stairs and see the lights on and the computer on playing super loud music. At this point I was wondering if I was going crazy, because I could have sworn the lights were off a second ago.

I thought it was a fluke thing. So I run down the stairs turn the music off and lights off and run back upstairs to eat my food.

Two minutes later the music starts back up again and the lights are on again.

That's when I began to freak out a bit...okay actually a lot.

I called my brother Peter's cell phone. The convo went something like this.

"Peter where are you?"

"At the neighbors, why?"

"There is something freaky going on here at home, where's mom?"

"She's with me."

"Get home now, I am freaking out!"

At that point I hear two people coming up the stairs chuckling. Who else but my lovely mother and Peter. They were laughing and laughing and oh-so-proud of their prank achievement.

I could have killed them, but of course I had to laugh at the joke as well.

See everyone's getting into the Halloween spirit this year-including my 60 year old mom.

Well it started off the weekend on the right foot. Last Friday night I went to another spooky but amazing event, Thriller put on by the Odyssey Dance Company in Salt Lake. It was spectacular!

{These zombies were everywhere before the show, don't they look scary? They were, trust me.}

Feliz Cumpleano's Dad

I think this picture alone explains quite a bit about my dear father and his sense of humor. It's his birthday today and in a bit I'll be heading over to my parents house to celebrate.

A few things about him that make him the greatest are:

• He is like a walking encyclopedia. If you give him a year, he can spout off about who the President was, what wars were going on, music, etc. Us kids are still trying to get him to go onto Jeopardy.
• He has a passion for reading and staying up on current events. He is the one that got me hooked on NPR.
• Quirkiest sense of humor and he laughs at his own jokes.
• Loves to name his cars. When I was in Jr. High my dad bought a VW camper bus. He loved her so much he gave her the name Helga-he thought it appropriate that the name be German since it was a VW.
• He is one of the kindest people I know. If I need anything-I know hands down that he would help me. He is like this with family, friends, strangers. If he sees a need-he is always there to help.

These are just a few of the reasons I adore my dad. He is a man that I admire.

Happy Birthday dad-Love you!

Happy 35th Anniversary Mom & Dad

Happy Anniversary to the parents!

These two lovebirds have been married for 35 years, my goodness longer than I have been alive. I have been lucky to witness such an amazing marriage from my parents which is a rarity this day in age. They adore one another and my mom still thinks my dad is the funniest man alive-she laughs at every corny joke and giggles when he teases her. My dad thinks my mom is the most beautiful woman he has ever set his eyes on and could go on and on about how wonderful a woman she is.

I agree-I think they are both pretty great people. So here's a toast to mom & dad, to their beautiful marriage and to many more years of happiness!

Dream

Isn't her voice so angelic?  Her voice is dreamy and she is clearly a multi-tasker...singing, harmonica, guitar.  I heart Priscilla Ahn!

Fall Looks I'm Lovin'

{Pictures from The Sartorialist}

{J.Crew}

{Anthropologie}

I am loving the layers I am seeing this season and now I am coveting that J.Crew blazer and the Anthropologie sweater coat.  Since I can't afford them, I will just continue coveting and admiring from afar. {Sigh}