Merry Christmas!

This Christmas was our first away from family. We decided that it would be too expensive to travel and that we should stay at home and start some of our own traditions. Well, we didn't start many traditions but we spent a lot of time celebrating with friends.
On Christmas eve we went to Bishop Alletto's house where they were having their family's tradition of an italian dinner. It was really good and we had a lot of fun playing games and visiting with the Allettos and their other guests. When we came home we read the Christmas story from the scriptures before going to bed.
On Christmas morning we slept in and then opened presents together. We were sent a bunch of nice gifts from our families and then we gave a few to each other. It was really a nice Christmas. We had bread pudding for breakfast/lunch and then we talked to our families. Probably the best part of Christmas was talking to John's family over the webcam while they were on the phone with John's brother Alan who's on a mission in England right now. Alan couldn't hear us talking to him very well but we could hear him and it was very fun. He has the craziest English accent now. He's been out for about a year and a half and he'll be coming home at the end of July this summer. He's a great and very enthusiastic missionary and we're really proud of him!


We spent Christmas day dinner with our friend Gina, her mom Dana, and the missionaries. Dinner was wonderful! We had a prime rib roast, twice baked potatoes, stuffing, deviled eggs, and probably a million other things. Gina and her mom really out-did themselves. After dinner we played Monopoly, which Johnwas really excited about because its a tradition in his family to play Monopoly on Christmas. We had a great time and we were so grateful to spend Christmas with our friends.

Colver Family Christmas Party

This past Thursday John and I carried on my family's yearly tradition by hosting a Christmas party. Ever since my family moved to Penticton, right before I was born, they've been having a Christmas party. They started having it so that they could get to know people at church since they were in a new city and far from family and friends. Once they figured they knew everyone, they tried to stop having it but people came anyway. So now they host their party every year right before Christmas and its the biggest party of the year. One year they had almost 70 people in attendance all crammed into our house. We didn't have quite so many people since we only live in a 1 bedroom apartment. We had 14 people total, including us and a baby. It was a lot of fun. We played the white elephant gift game, as is customary at the Northcott Christmas party. Our game didn't last as long as my parent's game so we had to supplement the entertainment with Catch Phrase, Nertz, and Guitar Hero. Since we don't normally have Guitar Hero at our house, after our last guests left around midnight, I cleaned up while John played Guitar Hero. We played Guitar Hero until 2am then went to bed. It was a fun night!

Gingerbread House Party

This weekend we went to a Gingerbread House making party at our friend Gina's house. We had a great time building our house and hanging out with friends. John's motto when building our house was "Go big or go home." So we broke the mold and made our house bigger than all the others. John appointed himself "master architect." Thus the grandeur of our gingerbread house, the crafty brickwork, and the giant chimney can be attributed John. The cuteness, however, can be attributed to me. I made the Christmas lights, the front door, the garland around the door, the bushes, and the four-paned windows. I guess that makes me "master decorator."

Oo, The Mail's Here!

John and I have discovered that one of the good things about being far away from home for Christmas is that you get big packages in the mail! Nothing can be more exciting... Thanks mom! My mom also sent us some of her homemade chocolates, which are the best! Yum!

I thought my mom had sent me a coffin when I saw the UPS guy outside my door with this huge package... Don't get too many ideas, it was mostly styrofoam peanuts!

Deck the Halls!

Since I finished my finals (yay!) I've been so busy doing all the things I had been putting off: cleaning, decorating, shopping, cleaning, cooking, cleaning... I saved some boughs from when we got our Christmas tree and I decided to get all crafty and make my own Christmas swag to decorate my apartment. I pretty proud of it, just in case you were wondering. It's convenient that my kitchen came already painted in that festive red color!

Ward Christmas Party

This past Saturday was our ward Christmas party. We had a lot of fun and we're glad we went, even though there weren't too many people there.

First we had a great time tying blankets for the Ronald McDonald house with our friends Donnie and Angie Appleman, and Tiffany. It was John's first quilting experience but he quickly labeled himself the expert and showed us all up on speedy stitches. There were also a few nativity scenes on display. It was neat to see the different ways that the Christmas story is represented.
The second half of the party was an impromptu Nativity pageant. The kids got all dressed up and John and I tag-teamed playing the piano for the carols that were interspersed throughout the performance. It was really cute (All the little girls that were angels were the best! And little Joseph putting his arm around Mary, so cute!). Bishop Alletto gave a little Christmas devotional afterwards sharing the story of Christmas in America and bearing his testimony of the actuality of these events. It was really nice.
After all the activities of course there were refreshments and we ate up!
I love the Christmas season so much, there's such a special spirit in the air. I hope we all remember what Christmas is really about and the greatest gift of all: the gift of our Savior's love and sacrifice. May we all have the spirit of Christ in our hearts this season and throughout the year.

White Chicken Chili

What do you get when you throw 1 can of beans, l boullion cube and a bunch of leftovers into a pot?? Award-winning white chicken chili! (At least when John's the judge and there's no competition...) I really wasn't expecting this to turn out as anything special but John thought it was great! It was kind of spicy, but pretty tasty! We pigged out then sat in our obesity on the couch and watched Charlie Brown Christmas.

1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs flour
1 tsp cumin
1 16oz bottle of El Pinto medium green chili sauce (you can find it at Kroger/Smiths, its our favorite salsa!)
2 cans navy beans
2 cups chicken boullion
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

Cook onions in oil until limp and translucent. Add flour, cumin, and green chili sauce and cook for 2 minutes. Add beans and boullion, bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some shredded cheese on top, and serve with rolls or tortillas.

O Christmas Tree!

Yesterday John and I went on our search for the perfect Christmas tree. Every year growing up my family would get a real Christmas tree, so for me Christmas isn't Christmas without a real tree. So John and I borrowed a truck from the Ballard's and set out to a roadside Christmas tree lot to find our tree. We did a lot of deliberating but finally decided on the beautiful tree you can see featured in our pictures. There aren't any pictures of John (he was taking them on his iPhone) but he was the muscles behind the operation. He carried our tree up all three flights of stairs! (He also sacrificed watching college football to do this tradition with me! He must love me...)
Today we decorated it before watching the Christmas devotional online. John had a tradition in his family of each child getting an ornament every year. So when I married him I married into a few decades worth of Christmas ornaments. They're all really cute; there's a doctor that he got when he was 9, an old-fashioned rocking horse, a soccer player, and, our favorite, the yarn snowflake with his little boy picture in the middle of it. I love this time of year and all the preparations for Christmas. The tree smells so good and the lights make it all magical. I love to turn on Christmas music, sip hot chocolate, and look at the twinkling Christmas lights!

Flu Shots Conquered!

Today was a big day for me, my lab group went to the nursing home only to have administering flu shots sprung on us. I am proud to announce that I gave a patient a flu shot without passing out or throwing up. I think that this would be no small feat for anyone, but for me it was huge. In grade 6 I passed out in the hallway after receiving my HepB shot. I woke up as the librarian was carrying me down the hall (and for the record he was very old and not cute so this was in no way a dream come true). This started a steady stream of incidences where I have found myself lightheaded or on the floor with no recollection of how I got there, continuing up until the present day. So why, you might ask, am I in nursing school? I ask myself the same question every day. I even confessed to my nursing skills lab on the first day of class that I hate needles and blood and that I have a history of fainting. I let this silly fear keep me from pursuing nursing for a long time but I finally decided that I could overcome this small hurdle and that I could succeed despite my weaknesses. And I am proud to say that I have. No promises for the future, but today I succeeded.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

I have to admit that one of the things I dislike about Savannah is that there are only 3 seasons: warm, hot, and cool. We skip winter completely. A few weeks ago someone mentioned that they'd gotten snow and I was almost drooling in envy. I love snow. Not to drive in, or be cold and wet in, just to look at. Snow is magical. It can turn ugly brown landscape into a sparkling, white wonderland. When it snows, all the sounds are muffled and you feel like you're in your own little snow globe and the world isn't so big. I have great memories of going for walks in the snow with my mom and everything felt so quiet and peaceful.
Snow makes the winter season feel like the Christmas season. Christmas just doesn't feel the same without it. I love curling up in front of a fire or with some hot chocolate or apple cider when the snow is falling outside - it gives you that 'cozy' feeling.
I also love the sound of the snowplow. Call me crazy but it reminds me of home. I distinctly remember falling asleep in my bed at Centennial when I was a sophmore at BYU and hearing the sound of the snowplow. I was instantly transported back to my childhood, lying in bed at night in the house where I grew up, listening to the snowplow run up and down our street. That's the first time I realized that I love the sound of the snowplow and that it reminds me of home. It's comforting.
So I'm wishing for snow and knowing that I won't get any this Christmas. So instead I will leave you with some beautiful pictures of snow and continue dreaming of a white Christmas.

Twilighters Anonymous

Hi my name's Victoria and I am a Twilighter. This summer I read all of the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn). I have to admit that when John brought Twilight home for me after his trip home to Elk Ridge I had my doubts. A vampire love story sounded a little bit hokey to me. I ended up loving the story and I was so excited to hear that it was going to be made into a movie. John was sweet and took me on a date to see it. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the next movies they'll be making from the books. So yes, I'm a closet fan-girl, but I do try to contain myself. I really did like the books! I also enjoyed the author's other book, The Host. I would recommend Stephenie Meyer's books to anyone!

Thanksgiving in Asheville, NC

John and Victoria at the natural waterslide near Asheville

John and I spent Thanksgiving this year with his aunt and uncle in Asheville, North Carolina. We had a great time, we were so glad that we had family to spend the holiday with! It's kind of a funny story how we came to be invited for Thanksgiving... John and I were at the temple in Columbia with our friends Gina and Cody Ballard when we saw aunt Liz there. We were walking out of the temple when someone called John's name. The lady who had called John's name introduced herself as aunt Liz and invited us up for Thanksgiving. (John was thinking to himself "Do I even have an aunt Liz???" Turns out she's known in the family as aunt Becky and John hasn't seen their family for about 12 years.) What a coincidence that we share a temple, we didn't know that we lived so close to them! Needless to say, Cody mocked John ruthlessly for not knowing his own aunt, who by the way also knew my name.

Looking Glass waterfall, Asheville hills, Victoria and Magan, the barn

Anyway, on to our Thanksgiving trip. We had a great time in the Smokey Mountains of western North Carolina. The Stephens live in the hills outside of Asheville. They have a long roller-coaster-like dirt driveway and an old barn on their property. It was really cool and so nice to have a little variety in landscape; Savannah is completely flat!! Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. We had a huge spread: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, stuffing, apple pie, chocolate silk pie, and cheesecake. After dinner we went to the movies and saw Four Christmases.

Magan, Liz, Tory, Victoria, Thanksgiving dinner

The next day we visited the Biltmore village, a collection of cute shops in the historic district right outside the gates to the Biltmore estate. We drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the beautiful views and some waterfalls. We also went to the nearby town of Black Mountain where there were some really cute antique and quilt shops. Uncle Tory also took us to see a few of the amazing houses he has designed. He's an architect and he makes pottery as a hobby. He sent us home with a couple of platters.

The band and the cloggers at the Fiddlin' Pig

On Friday night John and I went with Magan and her date to the Fiddlin' Pig. At the Fiddlin' Pig there was a live bluegrass band and some cloggers. It was really fun, they even taught us to country square dance. It was a really fun time.

This is a picture of the barn door that John took, I think it's a cool picture.