New House and Mini-Vacation

So I mentioned briefly in my last post that Troy and I bought a house. We are so excited! We are supposed to (crossing my fingers) close on it this week. Our first intention was to move in the weekend before Christmas (i.e. next weekend) but I think we are going to spend Christmas for the last time in our condo and move the weekend after Christmas. I wish I had saved some photos of it! It is a twin home in Taylorsville, right off of 48th South and 740 West - right on the border of Murray and Taylorsville. It's in a cul-de-sac and there are horses behind our fence. We have a yard (that's a first for me!) and a dishwasher - which we have been living without for over 3 years now. It's 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath, 1 car garage AND a carport. WAHOO!

Last weekend I was able to fly out with my mom to see my sister and her family in California. They live right outside of Sacramento in a town called Lincoln. Troy couldn't make it this trip, he had band practice for his work Christmas party. We had a great and relaxing time! I played games with my nieces and nephew, went to see "Twilight" in a very expensive California movie theater, met my sisters new Basset Hound named Huckleberry and went shopping with my sister and mom. Oh, and let's not forget In N Out Burger! MMMMMM.... Here a few photos of my trip below.

Cameron and Huckleberry

Me, Mom and Huckleberry

Me, Cameron & Grandma

Grandma, Hailey & Aunt Katie

Samantha & Aunt Katie

Steve with his Christmas present from Troy and I - a Steelers Wreath!

The Balli Family Christmas Tree

Amy, Mom & Katie

Huck and Daddy watching t.v.

Sisters

Sitting on Santa's (Steve's) Lap! :)

We LOVE Christmas!!

Almost 1 month later...

This will be short and sweet. I know my page is still Thanksgiving themed, this will be changed soon! Not to worry. Life has been a whirlwind for me lately, so my blogging has come to a halt. Between buying a new home and selling my old one, Christmas, a vacation to my sisters and appointments with doctors regarding babies - I have had little time!

Stay tuned....

Disney and NKOTB

I have had the best weekend! Last Friday I had the chance to take my niece, Chloe to see Disney on Ice for an early birthday present. I was also secretly excited to go myself, so it was also a good cover-up to go with a child because no one thought I actually wanted to go. I ended up loving it in all its cheesiness. My favorite part of the show was Pinnochio and I think Chloe liked all of the princesses the best :) Here are a few pics from the night, all I had was my camera phone but they are still fun!

The princess herself

Saturday night I had the time of my life at the New Kids On The Block concert. I went with my friends Rebecca, Jessica & Rhianne and had a killer time! Here is a little background with me and NKOTB. I first discovered them at the early age of 11 years old and we were just about to move to Germany. I fell in love with them and had a major crush on Joey McIntyre. I went on to buy t-shirts, pins, had posters of them as wallpaper in my room and even joined their fan club! I had all of their tapes, even the Christmas album. So going to this concert was a mix of 2 things for me. One - that they were back together after 15 years and it was funny that they were doing shows. Two - that all I wanted when I was a pre-teen was to go to one of their shows and I was able to fulfill my childhood dream. And that is really something to me! The crazy thing is, they were all in great shape, still had great dance moves AND they sounded exactly like they did in 1990. Even their new songs are awesome. Not to mention that a few of them became even more attractive over the years. Time treated them well, I must say! No wonder Donnie Wahlberg's brother made it on my top 10 :) The place was full of late 20's, thirty-something women screaming and wearing their old New Kids shirts (that I wished I had kept, trust me!). I loved singing all of the words I used to sing over and over to my tapes back before CD's. It really took me back to those days that I have almost forgotten.

Back in the day.....look at that hair!

Lookin' good today!

One of my favorite songs:

Please Don't Go Girl

Gratitude List

It's been suggested to me that if I am feeling a little down, don't like the way things are going in my life, life isn't fair, etc... I should make a gratitude list. I don't do this nearly enough, but I'm going to list some things I am grateful for right now. Hopefully it will raise my spirits a little.

* Hot Baths. It's one of the most relaxing things I can do, and it's free. It helps my mind from going a

million miles a minute and it's rejuvenating.

* Great Job. I love my job and it's stable. I've

never been happier working anywhere else!

* A Home. I have a nice condo where I live with my husband and cats. I complain that it's too small all the time, but I need to be more grateful that I have a place to call my own and am able to make payments on it.

* Frankie and Roxy. To most people, cats may not be a big deal. But I love my cats. They keep me company and I know they are treated well and are happy kitties. Sometimes spoiled! They constantly do cute things that make me smile.

* My King Size Bed. After sleeping on a full bed with Troy for almost 3 years, we upgraded to a king. I love being able to sprawl out and not have to worry about kicking Troy in the side. I am also grateful that we are both not cuddlers in bed!

* Traveling. Luckily, Troy and I have had some extra money to travel. We have been on 2 cruises since we've been married, and going on another one this January! We have been to Hawaii, California a few times, Arizona, and Las Vegas. One day I hope to travel to Europe with him.

* Al-Anon. This program has helped me through the roughest of times. I love the friends I have made and the guidance it gives me through life. I don't know how I would survive without it.

Goosh Pants

I went to a Halloween party about a week ago with some friends. Rebecca and I bought these pants called "Goosh Pants" at the Halloween store for our costume. She also shares my same view and humor on most things! Then, being Katie, I had to go overboard and add things to the costume. Take a look at our creation!

We also won 2nd place for best costume at the party. I think we should have gotten 1st place over Raggedy Ann, but I guess everyone doesn't think messing yourself is funny :)

In addition to the store-bought "Goosh Pants" we added depends diapers as our hats, added a little chocolate frosting and some corn. It was so gross! Yet so funny. We came to the party saying we were party poopers but everyone just called us the poop girls instead. Needless to say, Troy is happy he wasn't caught in public with me :)

Anniversary in Vegas

Today is the 3 year mark that Troy and I have been married. We decided to drive to Las Vegas for a couple of nights for our 3 year anniversary. When I mean we, I mean I came up with the idea and Troy said "sure"! It was our first Vegas trip together. We stayed at the Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites (thanks to our friend John Michael for giving us a sweet deal).

We rolled into Vegas around 4pm-ish on Saturday. We got ready and headed downtown for the night. The weather was warm, in the 80's and in the 70's at night. Perfect weather! We walked around, gambled a little and ate dinner at the buffet in the Monte Carlo. We got back to the hotel early and rented "Step Brothers" which was really funny!

Sunday morning we ate some breakfast and then headed to the Hooters Casino to play a little blackjack and poker. Troy had the gambling luck on this trip. I couldn't win anywhere I went - I guess it just wasn't my time! Troy dragged me away from the penny slots to go check out the Titanic Exhibit at the Tropicana. It was really cool how it was set up, well worth it! They gave us boarding passes for the Titanic with an actual passengers name on it. At the end of the exhibit, you were supposed to check and see if your passenger was a survivor. My passenger survived, but Troy's didn't.

Later that night, we went to the V theater in Planet Hollywood to see the "Fab Four Live" which is a Beatles tribute band. Troy and I love the Beatles. They did a great job of playing their earlier stuff as well as their later stuff. The John Lennon of the group also performed "Imagine" which was awesome. The theater was fairly small, so we could see really well and the sound was great. It was so much fun! We had our picture taken at the beginning of the show, so we bought it once it was over. The quality isn't so well, since it is a picture of a picture :)

After the show, we walked along the strip checking out different casinos. We walked around the Bellagio for quite some time, watched $100 minimum bet blackjack tables and sat in shock while people threw away $200-$300 a hand and then win it back. We also watched the Bellagio fountain show, which most of you have probably seen but I have to do something with this video!

The next day we woke up and headed back to the Bellagio before driving home. Troy had read that the World Poker Tour was having a tournament here and wanted to see if he could see any famous poker players. He LOVES watching poker. In fact, as I'm writing this blog, he is watching poker. This is my background music :) He was so happy, like a kid at Disneyland. We stopped by In-N-Out Burger for lunch (which was a must) and drove home. It was overall a really fun trip with my hubby! Here are some more pics, I didn't take that many:

Troy in front of this cool, but fake, pond in the middle of some shops. Every half hour it would "rain" and "thunder" here.

At the Bellagio. We didn't see "O" but it is a cutesy picture.

I had to go back to work today while Troy had the day off. We went to Madelines for a steak dinner to finish our celebrating. It's crazy to look back and remember all that we've been through in our marriage. It's a good thing I love him so much!!

My Favorite Time of Year

Autumn is my favorite time of year. Christmas-time is a close second! I wish that FM 100 would play spooky music non-stop during the month of October like they play Christmas music in the month of December. I have added some of these songs to my blog for your listening enjoyment.

Here are just a few reasons why I love this time of year so much:

* Cooler Weather.

Don't get me wrong, I love summer, but I love wearing

jackets and hoodies. They are so comfortable! I also

like not sweating so much when it's HOT. I like

that it's not below zero, although last weekend proved

this to be wrong with the stupid snow.

* Fall Leaves.
I'm a big fan of mother nature, as long it doesn't

involve natural disasters. I love when the leaves

change colors and make the surroundings

beautiful.

* Scary Movies.

Even though I close my eyes and plug my ears

throughout the entire movie, I love them. I

always go see the next "Saw" movie with Troy and

my brother, Nate. It's a great tradition!

* Candy Corn.

My favorite Halloween candy. I only feel right

eating it when it's fall time. Sugary goodness!

* My Wedding Anniversary.

Troy and I were married October 21, 2005. 3 years next week!I look forward to doing something every year with him to celebrate. We are going on a short Vegas trip this weekend. I don't think we'll get around to Elvis re-marrying us, but it would be fun!

* Halloween.

This is my favorite holiday! I love cheesy Halloween decorations,

Halloween parties, jack-o-lanterns, the yummy

candy, cute little trick- or-treaters, scary movies

as I mentioned before, etc. etc. The one thing I

can tell you I HATE are haunted houses. I wish I

liked them. They scare the crap outta me. I left

the last one I went to after being there 2 minutes

and had to use the actors exit. But I love scary

movies, go figure?

Fred

I have a plant that sits at my desk at work named Fred. One time I asked my co-worker that sits across from me if she could water it while Troy and I were on our 7 day cruise earlier this year. She asked me what it's name was, and I told her it didn't have a name. So I decided right then and there I would name it Fred.

Fred is a compilation of 3 different plants that I received from friends and family when my dad passed away in April, 2006. They used to be in two separate pots, one was at home and the other at work. The one at home was looking kinda sad, so I asked my mom if she could help me re-plant them into one big pot. I had no idea what I was doing and had never planted ANYTHING so I am grateful for her help.

I know it seems silly, but I have never had or taken care of a plant before this (besides the occasional flowers) and I'm happy that Fred is still alive. He is special to me, I feel like a part of my dad is still with me.

Happy Birthday to Vanessa!

Lately, I have enjoyed planning get togethers with my friends. This could be lunches, dinners, a girls night out, my bunco group, etc. It can be stressful at times trying to get everyone together, but it is also very rewarding!

My friend Vanessa had her 27th birthday on Sept. 28th. She said it would be fun to go out, but I knew she wasn't going to plan it on her own. So I took it upon myself to do so! I sent a message to her siblings and friends I didn't know too well and the friends that I did know well and put it together. We went to this dueling piano bar downtown called Keys on Main, it was so fun! Vanessa even wore her birthday tiara :) I've included a picture of the night below - it was a success!

Trisha, Vanessa, Katie

Trip to Seattle

I just got back from a mini-vacation to Seattle, WA with my friend, Rebecca. This was my first time here and we were gone for about 3 days. We went to visit our friend, Nicole who moved there earlier this year. Yes, Nicole is my little brother's ex-girlfriend but we still keep in touch. We had such good times!

The weather was cloudy and chilly. I didn't see the sun the entire time, but I loved it! It only rained one of the days, which was nice. There were humongous trees everywhere and it was so green and pretty. I loved the relaxed atmosphere.

Here are a few pics from our trip:

Rebecca walking down Pike Place Market

The famous Space Needle (which is MUCH smaller than the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, by the way)

Rainy Day in Seattle

Very first Starbucks - EVER!

Downtown Seattle!

Us girls

Update on United Way Basket

I was told that our basket was sold for $650! Wahoo! The great thing about it, a girl from my team bought the basket so I can ask her how fun all the events are. :-)

United Way Basket

I am not one to volunteer for events at work. Somehow I got roped into this one, though. A few of my co-workers and I were picked to be in charge of the basket for our United Way charity event this week. We really only had about a weeks notice to get everything together. I have to say, I suck at ideas. Good thing someone else came up with the Halloween Basket idea.

We called different businesses in the Salt Lake area that had Halloween events going on and we were able to get a bunch of donations! We had haunted houses donate tickets, a dance company that is putting on "Thriller", The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Show, the Heber Creeper Train and lots more. I really was negative about it at first, but after awhile it got kinda fun! Especially seeing the outcome, our basket is worth a little over $800 with everything in it. They will be auctioning this basket on Friday! I will be sure and update my blog with how much it was sold for.

I included a picture of it below, I used my phone camera so it's not that great. But you get the point!