brady got an email from santa

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/PbZNugLqQsLcCUdFsWh0KQ

new to the zealand update

So we needed coffee…  so we ventured to our nearest Starbucks, where they have a "cute" little "where did you come from" map…  I was so excited for Livvy to be the first NZer to post a pin… when we discovered why American's have never heard of New Zealand…

because we fold that part of the map under…  oops.

Then I introduced her to Sonic… where we sat in the car for 12 minutes to wait to order til happy hour… oh yes, we were those kind of Americans.

oh and I'm not going to tell you if we ordered 6 things off the dollar menu and created our own buffet-style drive-in experience… just to truly Americanize her stay here.

USA! USA! USA!

jennafer

cake

So the other night I was cleaning (oh, by "cleaning" I mean "crawling in bed to take a nap") when someone walked through the door… (PS- walk ins have always been a HUGE prayer request of mine… and guess what… people WALK in our apartment now… they don't knock, they don't call, they don't wipe their feet and it's INCREDIBLE!  I mean, I can't walk around in my unmentionables anymore, well I can… I just need to make sure it's dead-bolted first… but other than that.. it TRULY is a dream come true… and a HUGE answer to prayer)… hehehe… can you say "TANGENT"…

anyway, someone comes through my door carrying a personalized size vanilla cake with chocolate pudding in the middle.

My friend Bridget surprised me with cake.  Then brought it to my house without calling.

Pretty sure this was top five greatest moments of my life.

and the cake was awesome.

i ate the rest of it for breakfast the next morning,
jennafer

christmas filming

My friend Amber invited us to go watch the Christmas filming on Saturday morning…  but I work all day Saturday so that wouldn't work and I was really sad.

Then Livvy called and invited me to watch the Christmas filming on Friday morning… and I had the day off… enter this fantastic story.

(please guard your eyes from this magic-ruining moment)  The Disney Christmas parade is NOT filmed on Christmas.  

I know.  It's awful.  They lie.

But the good news is-- I GOT TO WATCH SOME OF IT.  I saw Ryan Seacrest and was totally within arms distance of him and took one hundred videos to prove it.  

But the OTHER bad news is-- I couldn't find Livvy… I mean, she was NO WHERE to be found…  

But I did find this cute penguin (the one all the way on the left hand side)

… it was most definitely the CUTEST of all the penguins and is now Beyonce-status FAMOUS because this penguin was FILMED and will be on ABC Christmas morning…  perhaps we should notify New Zealand of this fantastic penguin maybe????  Do New Zealanders like penguins???  I should ask one.

waddle waddle,

jennafer

let me two finger point over here for you

Last week at work my friend Lindsey and I got to be Character Attendants for the day!  It is HARD work and unfortunately, guests ask the silliest questions (by "silly", I really mean "dumb").  I'm so glad I got to do a day of work from their point of view-- I've always realized how hard their job is, but now I have a NEW found appreciation for it!

It was incredible to get the opportunity to see a Character setting from their point of view.  It was also really neat to hear how excited guests are to meet Disney Characters-- I'm so proud of the job that I get to do everyday and LOVE that people appreciate it.

Oh, and yes… that is an earpiece in my ear… you better believe I was "over and out", "10-4", "What's your 20?" and "do you copy"ing all over the place… yes, I'm a pretty big deal in my blue shirt and ear piece.

have a magical day,

jennafer

hand towels

We have been needing hand towels for the guest bathroom--  but on an extremely tight budget, christmas and my car battery being crazy…  I can't even tell you  how far down on the list "hand towels" were… until I accompanied Livvy on her "operation find vintage clothing" outing.  I was browsing through some old house wear items when I came across these two old beat up towels for $0.25 a piece…

And 'tis the season to go all "Charlie Brown" on old, beat-up, ratty things… so I thought… let's cut these up… be a DIY human and sew up the edges (oh yes, don't forget that I have my own sewing machine…) and enjoy these vintage pattern terry clothes hanging on my hand towel ring (that Tim so nicely installed while he and my mom were visiting… two roof raises for my dad being the handiest guy in the world.)

VOILA!!!!!!!!!  Charlie Brown would be so proud!

happy drying,

jennafer

PS- this is my 200th post.  You're welcome.

snowflakes

On Monday nights here at the White Castle House we host the most rocking awesome life group you will ever know (we are still taking applications so if you think you fit our "rock-star" status, stop on by at 8PM on Mondays, we hang out, watch movies, talk about Jesus and laugh.)

Well this week we decided to watch Elf after meeting and saw all the incredible snow flakes Buddy was making when Kourtney came up with the brilliant idea that WE should make Buddy the Elf snowflakes… so we did…  this is us in the beginning phases…

I made one for the cutest dog that comes to lifegroup.  She thought it was so beautiful she wan't to do a mini-photo shoot with her own snowflake-- I didn't argue.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT!  (there is room for more… so if you have a little elf-blood in you… or perhaps just pointy ears and a love for Christmas, send us your best snowflake and we will hang in proudly in our living room!

 A snow flurry fit for a Princess!

 Frosty!

 Dr. Seuss!

 Anabelle's :)

we are extremely crafty around here,

jennafer

fleas

We have fleas.

It's gross.

Anabelle has been blessing us with cuteness for five years now and she has NEVER had fleas.  I don't know why.  I mean, clearly, if I was a disgusting little flea I would love nothing more than to hang out on cute little moo's furry tummy… but for some reason she has been exempt from them for five years.  Then we move to Mickeyville and she is covered.  grossy grosserson…

We took her to the vet today and I LOVED Dr. Pierce at Windermere Animal Clinic.  We have NEVER had a vet that sat and chatted with us as much as he did.  :)  I know Anabelle is in good paws with him!

So today is operation kill the fleas day…  I'm all itchy just thinking about it!  Any tips are welcome on how to get them out of our home sweet home!

scratch scratch,
jennafer

iron chef

Every other Sunday night our pastor and his wife host "IRON CHEF" night.  Four "teams" are assigned a secret ingredient and they have to come up with a dish that includes that ingredient!  They are judged VERY harshly and it is extremely competitive!

the judges last week...

Once the winner of the night is announced we all dig in and get to try their creations and watch that weeks episode of Iron Chef!  It's fantastic!

Last week the secret ingredient was calloflower… surprisingly it turned out great and I really liked everything I tried!

I'm not about to volunteer anytime soon to cook though--  it's too brutal for me! :)  I'll stick with my Kraft Mac 'n Cheese and frozen pizza :)

at least i wear cute aprons,
jennafer

tempurpedic

Brady and I invested in a Tempurpedic bed with our wedding money.  I've always really loved it and sleep FANTASTIC every night… but it really really really impressed me this morning when I woke up and realized I had spent the entire night sleeping on my KEYS and didn't even notice!

zzzzzzzzzz,

jennafer

thrift store miracles

Livvy, Olivia and I ventured out to find cheap Orlando treasures!  We had a blast browsing through antiques and watching EVERYTHING Livvy put on look good.  Seriously.  You could give her the most HIDEOUS looking dress and she would put it on and make it look like it just came out of vogue… I'm totally investing in her clothing store someday!

Here's the red red animators with their goodies!!!

hi ho hi ho a bargain hunting we go,

jennafer

christmas shopping

I am LOVING doing my Christmas shopping at Disney this year.  It causes Brady and I to have to go to Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom and Epcot many times to try to find that perfect gift for everyone! :)

While traveling around the world in Epcot we found our first big gingerbread house!  

 Disney puts Gingerbread homes up all over property!  I can't wait to go look at all of them! :) 

 We had to stop and get our Mexico nachos-- a GREAT snack if you are in Epcot… less than $10 and could easily feed three people! :)

 look at this little number we found at downtown disney!!   :) 

santa is coming,

jennafer

lillyanne comes

Lillyanne (and company) came to Disney World!  It was so fun getting to see our dear family friends.  :)  And we LOVED getting to finally meet Samuel!

Lillyanne was welcomed into Disney by a few of her favorite friends!

 Hayden was such a little doll!  He would hug the princesses for so long! :)  What a little cutie!!!!

 Lillyanne was very excited to get surprises!!!!!!

 Princess Aurora and Lillyanne Snow White

 Three princesses

 a magical meeting!!!!!!!!!

everything is more fun with a ball gown on,
jennafer

black friday

Thanksgiving night, Lindsey, Livvy and Olivia spent the night so we could head to Target at 3:00AM! :)

None of us were looking for anything specific, so it was pretty silly for us to go and browse around with the crazies… but it was Livvy's first black friday experience so we couldn't pass it up.  Everyone was in their most bargain-hunting state and the people-watching that went on… let's just say, did not disappoint!

We came back to our apartment.  Slept for 8 hours and woke up to start making a Thanksgiving feast!  We invited all of our work friends who don't have family here to celebrate Livvy's first Thanksgiving!!!!

 You better believe if you come to a Thanksgiving meal at my house you wear an indian headress.

 I think Livvy liked it… look at that clean plate!

 Little New Zealand making dessert from her native land.

 Everyone say, "WE LOVE NEW ZEALANDERS!"

 Pavlova… yummy yummy!

 good friends, good turkey, good foreigners,
jennafer

thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  I know… I know…. it's December 1st… but when have you ever known the adventures of Brady, Jen and the Moo to post on time???  It just wouldn't be right.  So happy December 1st… holy cow can't believe it's already December… but back to thanksgiving now.

We spent the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving at Pops and GoGo's house!  We loved getting to see our family and it truly felt like the holidays with us all piled under one roof and wrapping paper everywhere!!

Uncle Brady is the coolest :)

 My dad came up to spend the day with us-- pretty much made my holiday absolutely perfect!  Could not have asked for more!!! :)

 We had a tea hot chocolate party.

 We celebrated DAX-- he's a whopping SIX YEARS OLD!!  

 If you aren't already following @dax_ism on twitter… do yourself a favor and DO IT!

 Oh yes folks… this is the Branson airport… it's Bass Pro themed!  There are animal tracks on the ground.

ACTUAL Thanksgiving day was spent with these three girls!  We had a blast!

a lot of thankful going on in 2010,

jennafer

livvy makes pizza

Livvy makes homemade pizza!!!!!!!

secretly i think we both just wanted to wear aprons :)

and tries candy corn for the first time!!! :)

new zealanders are fun,

jennafer