last thoughts of 2010

I'm sorry you've been stuck looking at that Christmas picture of Adam and I circa 1972. If only you could see his mustache a little more clearer.

Actually be glad you can't. It's nast.

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. I think it was the longest day of my life. Never ending. But I couldn't have asked for anything more. AND I got the greatest gift of all time. A Lemon tree. a Meyers Lemon tree. Truly a gift that keeps on giving. The best part is that it already has little lemon nuggets growing on it. the other best part is that my brother nurtured it day in and day out before giving it to me. ahhh....that is love.

Lets hope this harsh winter won't be too harsh on my new little lemon friend.

2010 was a good year. We did a lot, ate a lot, and traveled a lot. We went to the other side of the world, bought a home, and celebrated one year of wedded bliss together. We hosted parties and went to concerts. Made new friends and mowed our first lawn. We became an aunt and uncle and cooed over babies. We went to Powell, skied, road-tripped, and roasted marshmallows. we also spent a lot of time with family and ate a lot of desserts.

I am so grateful that I have been given this year. I am so blessed! I always get excited about a new year approaching. Lets hope this one will be as good as lasts.

Here's to a New Year, a new outlook, and Lemons!

Merry Christmas to you and yours.
xo.
the buies

Yesterday was someones Birthday...

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Here we go!

L oves fishing, sports, the outdoors, and his family.
E rin is his favorite child. "Emily comes in a close second."
O ne of the warmest people you'll ever know.
N ever sleeps in past 6 am

W illing to give you the shirt off his back.
I s missing half of his pointer finger.
L ives and loves the Gospel.
L oves my Mom even though we make fun of her.
I know I am biased, but he is the smartest person I know.
A funny Dad. He tries to speak spanish, and it is...well, precious.
M aureen is his lover. and they like to go to vegas. a lot.

E veryone.Loves.Him. To know Leon is to love him.
W orks harder than anyone I know.
E njoys MacGyver-ing. He can build or fix anything.
L oves to travel. And supports me in my traveling...hehe.
L eads by example. There needs to be more Leons in this world!

Happy Belated Birthday Daddio, Leon, Lee, Big Pike.
I love you to the moon!
xoxo.

Erin Lee.

"Thank you, Mood!"

Sent from Mikki and Dani in NY.
Made my morning!!

Yeasty things that rise.

That's what I would want if I was stuck on an island and only had one thing to eat: something yeasty that rises. I am my Mother's daughter after all.
That is why I am attempting to make this Braided Lemon Bread for Christmas morning slash brunch. We usually have Ebleskivers, but those skivers just don't tickle my fancy.
I've been eyeing this recipe for over a year now--the only thing that has held me back was the yeast part.

Is this more of a Spring/Easter recipe?? I can't tell. every time I look at this photo I think of Easter morning. ??

Maybe if I substitute the lemon curd with Chocolate? Or cinnamon-raisin brown sugar filling?? (Kathy, this is when I need your help)

Recipe can be found HERE.

nutcracker

Off to the Nutcracker tonight with Husband!

Front row seats :)

Buie yah.

This is the best photo I could find.

Nutcrackers are creepy. But do you know what's creepier? dancing mice.

Yikes.

Maybe front row seats weren't such a good idea.

thrifty chic

I am an interior design school drop-out. I dropped out because I had wanderlust. I had itchy feet. I vanted to travel zee vorld. So I did. Then got a degree in international relations...to travel some more, of course.
The funny thing is that after I dropped out, I HATED design books. They reminded me of something I never finished. They reminded me that I was a QUITTER.
Well, that hatred towards design books is looong gone. That realization came to me last week when I found myself in an igloo of design books in the uptairs corner of Barnes & Noble. They became my crack cocaine. And I wouldn't mind adding these to the igloo:

stocking stuffers, please.

zank you.

almost forgot...

(Thanksgiving at the Ewells)

I am grateful for my Man, my life, and for Thanksgiving Bingo.

...and for desserts other than pumpkin pie ;)

toast.

I promise this blog isn't going to turn into a huge list of stuff I want.
Ok who am I kidding of course it is.
I was thinking of all the ways I can snatch one of these pajama sets from toast. Maybe if I don't fill my gas tank this week I can purchase the autumn leaf set. I will drive the scooter up the canyon every day to work. ...hmm...
or maybe we will skip the groceries this week and dive into our food storage. During these hard economic times I think it is perfectly rational and necessary to have a beautiful pajama set that costs 69 POUNDS....bleh. I don't even want to do the conversion.
...maybe its a blessing they aren't carrying my size.

I also promise I will post more wholesome "mom blog" things-like how our Thanksgiving went, what I am thankful for, and maybe a picture of the apple pie I made.
From now on you can call me 'Erin Betty Crocker Buie'. Say that 10 times fast.

By the way--December is here tomorrow!!!!!!! EEK!

p.s. please bless you can sense my sarcasm.

I spent the week putting together our office slash pantry slash breakfast nook. It's pretty stinkin' cute if I say so myself. I have been looking for a small rug to warm it up a bit--then I came across this little number from Dash & Albert and Bada Bing Bada Boom!

I think I found the missing puzzle piece.

happy thanksgiving.

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i can't even handle it.

i will be putting all of these on our tree this year.
i don't think i've ever wanted something so bad.

Lets hope that after we purchase 200

acorns we can afford to buy a tree ;)

{driving in scotland}

Sorry for the hiatus--i've had writer's block...er...blogger's block?
I'd like to say we've been extremely busy-but actually we've been hermit-ing in our house all week watching season 4 of Friday Night Lights. I may or may-not have cried when Tim Riggins went to prison for his brother. I think it made me cry because:
a) Adam looks like Billy Riggins.
b) I was in prison the night before.
Literally. I went to prison Wednesday night. No, no, no, it's not what you're thinking....and this post would be a lot more exciting if I was locked up in the pen, but actually we went for a Young Women's activity (strange?). a little.
I was not expecting to sit and talk to 4 inmates about their lives in the slammer, but it was incredibly interesting and touching listening to these women share their testimonies. yes, testimonies. It was amazing how these young, YOUNG girls still had self worth despite their horrific pasts and what they've faced over the past 10+ years in prison. What surprised me most was learning how they've gained a relationship with their Heavenly Father.

“the power of the Savior to heal and bring peace and joy to those who have suffered so much at the hands of others . . . and the power of the Savior to heal those who have caused suffering. . . . He heals all! Those who suffer and those who cause suffering - we all receive such mercy because of His suffering”

So last night we went to the Temple and I couldn't get this thought out of my mind. An institute teacher once told me that there is more equality in our trials than we think. I've always had a hard time believing this, especially after visiting these girls; but I know that depsite our trials and wrong-doings, we are all healed and made perfect through the Atonement. I left feeling very grateful for my life and the freedoms I enjoy.

So those are my thoughts this week. er....i feel like i should tell a joke or something.
On a lighter note,
We came home after the Temple and watched more Friday Night Lights.

naturally.

Halloween around these parts.

ta da!
no one wanted to take their finished pumpkins home.....so I ended up with about 24 carved pumpkins on our front door step. Daniel thought the goo was funny. Adam didn't carve a thing. I don't even think he realized we had a pumpkin carving party.

anyway, it was fun and festive, and i'm still finding pumpkin seeds in obsure places. hmmm.....

The BOOies after dark

*

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

***

Muuaa hhaaa haa haaa!

Muaah haa haa haaah haa!!

Muaaahh HAHAHAHA!!!!!

snowed in.

This weekend our house was chilled and we felt winter coming on. We decided to spend the weekend indoors laughing at this, eating here, listening to him, making this, and going here.
Then i drove to work and it snowed.
and it snowed. and snowed.

and it's still snowing.

and all i want to do is lay in bed, read good books, watch clueless on the laptop and eat donuts. What. the mini ones.

...maybe next weekend.

Westminster Ave.

Can I tell you how much I love our street?

I love it.

I love our neighborhood.

I love that my pumpkins haven't been smashed yet.

+

yesterday I watched a woman walk her handicapped dog. It had wheels for legs. My eyes welled up. What's wrong with me???

+

emily and I discovered a hidden pathway next to my house. Brick arches and hanging branches.

It's very secret garden-ish.

+

I walked outside the other day without a top on.

oops.

+

vines are taking over our house. taking over. I can't see out my bedroom window anymore.

+

did anyone watch project runway last night? I'm SO glad Michael C is gone. But that exit? can you say over dramatic? jeeeeez. Adam's jaw was on the floor.

Mondo is my little circus monkey. I love.

+

I am planning on having a PR finale party at our casa next thursday. We will also carve pumpkins, make caramel apples, and possibly turn my secret garden into a spook alley.

just an idea.

***

happy friday halloweenies.

Our little nugget jade plant has arrived. The best 7 bucks i've ever spent.

Now if only I can get my hands on this little pretty. 10 dollars??? Yessir.

where the crap is my stuff.

I was looking through a bunch of photos from last year and stumbled across some pictures from my Bridal shower in San Diego. wtf. where is all that stuff I got?
This freaking cute casserole dish?

never seen it in my life.

This glass pitcher and SET of goblets?

beats me.

Polka dot?

nada.

I remember what I did bring back from that trip. A garlic press.

*

yipee

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Our home is all decked out. I think this has become my favorite holiday. Leianne would be proud, and my Mom would say, "Erin Lee....!"
She calls me Erin Lee when she's impressed with something I did or if i'm dressed cute or made her a gift.
Hence the name of my blog. Hopefully it's something she can be proud of. heh.
I'm just a little nervous about leaving all those pumpkins on our front door step. So I prayed about it. naturally.

"Please bless no one steals our pumpkins or smashes them because I spent a lot of time and money picking those out and that would be very very sad if someone did that.
amen."

Please don't smash our pumpkins.
But pleeeasse come visit!

muaahh haa haa haa!

Healfy eating.

Salmon en papillote

yum. yum. yum.

I might have eaten 2 cookies and a spoonful of ice cream after.

and

a sour patch kid.

*

*

maybe 6 kids.

Thriller will make you pee your pants

Went and saw Thriller at the Egyptian Theater last weekend with Maureen, Mikki & the kids. I loved it in a smaller theater. I could feel the zombie sweat from the stage. Maureen may or may not have peed her pants during a scary part. That just doesn't happen at Kingsbury Hall. sorry.
This made me want to be a dancer.
This made me want to be a zombie.
How sad is it that Dani is the same height as me? I used to change that girls diaper. sheesh. I'm getting old.
But i'm not too old to dress up as a zombie dancer for Halloween. DONE!

P.S. Brady's joke over the Dinner table Sunday night:

Why can't ghosts have babies?

Adam's guess:
*********Because they don't have boo!bies.
Answer:
*********Because they have halloweenies.

Why was I not surprised Adam's answer had something to do with boobs.

happy friday.

Is anybody else enjoying this rain as much as I am?
happy weekend!

midway thrifting.

This was like a circus show. Bodybuilders and mannequins...that baby sure is cute tho. I'm almost positive he was real.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUIES

The whole fam damily headed down south for the birthday festivities. We crammed as many activities and food in as possible.

What better way to celebrate than with YOGURTLAND and My Little Pony cupcakes?! And babies eating those cupcakes. Hello 26!

Can't beat a lazy Sunday morning at the Buie Manor. Happy Birthday Scott T!

And more outings and presents....for Adam's Birthday of course. I spy....2 babies, a bear claw, and 2 brothers with the same scary expression on their face.

Phew! I'm birthday-ed out. We walked away from this trip a little bit older and a little bit plumper.

Until next year!

Happy BIRTHDAY to ME!. and you, ugh, and you.

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Off to St. George & Vegas for a triple-threat bday weekend! Sharing a birthday weekend with 2 other family members doesn't bother me as much as I think it bothers Adam. I'll try not to steal his thunder.

Adios!

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Did you know succulents are also known as fat plants?
Today i'm feeling succulent. I have been chugging water every day like there's no tomorrow-and I swear it feels like i'm storing it in my butt for the winter.
shouldn't I be peeing this out??
ay ay ay.
I was researching succulents because I was standing over a jade plant yesterday for 10 minutes debating whether or not I should buy it. I think i'm going to go back and get him. he was pretty cute. just don't tell Adam--we are paying our second mortgage payment this week and the last thing I should be spending money on is fat plants.

shape up or ship out

Last year just a few months before my wedding my Mom and I took a trip down to San Diego to finalize wedding plans. Our good friend Pia suggested we come see her personal trainer and have a work-out session at the gym. I thought it was a good idea-after all, i've always wanted to see a trainer and Pia's got a rock-hard bod, so I thought what the heck!
This was a bad decision.
I have never worked out like that in my life.
The warehouse was intimidating enough, but Markshane? are you kidding me? Her trainer is a dark chocolate Greek God? And i'm expected to focus. heh.

"excusemehellohowareyouitisapleasurewhythankyouthankyouyesi'mready,yes."

So the work-out began. He told me multiple times to go outside. to puke.
And if that wasn't enough-he got down in my face while doing push-ups and in true-drill sargeant fashion yelled, "C'mon E! 5 more! Here comes the bride!"

At that point I didn't care if I looked like Jabba the Hut walking down the aisle. I wanted this to be over.
The next day was worse. I literally couldn't sit up in bed.
P.A.I.N.
So when Pia sent me this video today with the note, "We missed you at the workout!", I had to admit, I didn't miss them at all.

Don't let that 89 1/2 year-old woman fool you.
I'm sure she's got buns-o-steel. And can bench a buck and a half.
Oh, and FYI-Pia is the one doing the ring push-ups. She's a machine.

puke.

magic 8 balls and bowling balls.

Last night we went bowling on a whim. The game only lasted about 15 minutes.
geez, that was an expensive 15 minutes.
This boy is so cute I kick myself when I think back to the times I wanted him to stop asking me out on dates. I told his friends to tell him to stop asking me out on dates.
I'm a brat.
One night while dating we were at his parents house and I found a magic 8 ball in their guest bedroom closet. Don't ask me why I was rummaging through their guest bedroom closet; I realize this makes me sound like a paranoiac--going through my boyfriend's parents stuff, but that glowing black ball immediately peaked my interest. I was in the bedroom alone, and without hesitation I asked the magic 8 ball my million dollar question:

"Am I supposed to marry Adam?"

With a quick flip of the ball, I waited for the floating triangle to settle in place--

"Outlook not so good"

Gulp.
Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I have always been pretty superstitious. In highschool, Emily and I would play with tarot cars at night on the back deck and light candles....but that post can wait for another day. ANYWAY, the rest of the evening I thought that magic 8 ball was the answer to my destiny.

Today we have been married 13 months. and my outlook has never been better.
I threw that damn ball away.

Now lets bowl.