Meet My New Friends. . . . .

Like most of you, I've been trying to keep myself entertained indoors this month. January can be somewhat depressing but I think I've managed to enjoy my days off and in the process I've made a couple new friends. . . . .

Meet Liz. . . . . she's my new personal chef!

OK, not really, I have to buy the groceries, read the recipe and actually prepare the food but she's been a great help!

I'm not usually one for cook books but my sister-in-law Karmen is an amazing cook and she gave me Liz for Christmas (along with the apron I'm wearing in the picture) so I thought I'd give her a try. Well. . . . . . the Food Nanny has rescued dinner in the Shields home!:) I've made about 10 dinners from Liz and they've all been delicious, even Bryce will agree. The recipes are easy to follow and Liz gives great suggestions! I would recommend "The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner" by Liz Edmunds to anyone!

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I'll now introduce you to another friend of mine that I've spent a lot of time with this month. . . . . . .

Meet Winnifred!

I guess you could call her a rocker. She works for Guitar Hero World Tour and sometimes she lets me pick out her concert clothes and change her hair color!:)
What a cool friend huh?

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I feel like I've had a lot of time on my hands lately but all I've wanted to do are things I enjoy! I've had fun cooking with Liz, playing Guitar Hero with Winnifred, reading while soaking in the tub, watching lots o' movies with Bryce, making scarves with the young women for a service project we're putting together and hoping "The Bachelor" Jason finds true love (I'm such a hopeless romantic)! All in all January's been a pretty good month!

FINALLY. . . .Bryce Shields, Esquire

Bryce is finally an official attorney now! I think I may have said that a few times already but this time it's final! WAHOO!! After 3 long years of law school, 1 Bar Exam in July, 1 MPRE ethics test in November, and a lot of waiting. . . . . .you may now refer to him as Bryce Shields, Esquire!:) Just kidding, please don't, that sounds weird.:)

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We had been waiting for weeks for a piece of paper in the mail that gave Bryce the OK to be sworn in by a district court judge. Well, we finally received that precious piece of mail a couple weeks ago and an hour later we were in the Pershing County court room with the judge getting sworn in. We would have loved to have family there with us but because of a little reason called "salary increase", we felt we had waited long enough.

I am so so proud of Bryce's accomplishments and I'm thankful for the many sacrifices he's made these past 3 1/2 years to further his education and help secure a good future for us. He is a very hard worker and I know he'll be a great attorney. He's a great man and I'm very lucky to be his wife!

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Way to go Bryce Shields, Esquire!:)

First Scentsy Party of the Year!

Lets go ahead and start off 2009 with a Scentsy Party!

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When: Now through Jan. 31st

Where: Online at www.scentsy.com/goscentsy

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And to ring in the new year. . . . . anyone who orders $44 or more in product will get a free car candle of their choice!!

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If you have any questions about Scentsy items or how to order e-mail me at brittanynielson@hotmail.com

Welcome 2009!!!

I know this post is a little late but I've been slacking a little in the blogging department and it's all thanks to Guitar Hero- World Tour, which we got for Christmas. . . . Thanks Ian & Adrienne!:)

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So, I was still in Blanding having fun with family for New Years Eve while my poor husband was in Lovelock with......the cat.:( So needless to say, I didn't get a New Year's kiss.:( But I still enjoyed ringing in 2009 with my parents! We played games, made ice cream sundaes, drank sparkling apple cider and watched Dick Clark (a.k.a Ryan Seacrest) count down the ball drop in NYC.:) It was a very relaxed and fun night! I called Bryce every couple hours to say "hi" so that I didn't feel quite so guilty that he was alone playing XBox for New Years.:)

Mmmmmmm. . . . . .chocolate chip cookie dough sundaes!!

Mom and I got a little excited when we found out David Cook was going to spend New Year's Eve with us!:)

And I was extremely jealous that my mom got a New Year's kiss!!:)

Cheers to 2009!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

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Last year at this time I posted my top 5 hopes/goals for 2008. I've reviewed those hopes and realized that 3 1/2 out of 5 of those were accomplished! That's not too bad.

2008 hopes/goals:

1)Bryce graduates from Creighton :) . . . . . . . . . .Check!
2)Bryce gets a good job in Utah and we get to move "home"!!! . . . . . . . . . 1/2 check for "good job"
3)Bryce passes the Barr Exam . . . . . . . . . . . .Check!
4) We get pregnant!!! or vacation in Europe (whichever comes first) :)
5) we buy a new car to replace the smoking Mazdarati that barely gets Bryce back and forth from Creighton :) . . . . . . . Check!

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I'm working on my goals list for 2009 but I'll save that for another post. In the mean time, I'd like to hear everyone else's goals/hopes for 2009! I hope you all have a great year!

A Quiet Christmas in Lovelock. . .

So Bryce and I spent Christmas in Lovelock this year. We started off the Christmas festivities with Bryce's work party and the only picture we took was before we left for the party.:)

This next picture is for my mom. She told me not to torture Jack with his Christmas costume this year but I just couldn't resist! :)

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Bryce and I decided to follow the Shields' tradition of doing fondue on Christmas Eve. Bryce made the best cheese fondue!!! It was delicious!

Yummy!!!

After stuffing ourselves with fondue and drinking a little sparkling apple cider we chose one gift to open.

We had a fun Christmas Eve!

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And after we went to bed Santa Clause came and filled our stockings! What a nice guy! We forgot to leave cookies and milk for him. Oops!:)

Santa didn't even forget Jack!

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We opened our gifts Christmas morning in about 20 minutes and then just enjoyed the rest of the day! We got a lot of great gifts! Thank you to those of you that contributed.:)

I drove to Reno in a snow storm on Christmas Eve day just to pick-up Bryce's bike. I'm thankful I lived to see him enjoy it!

Bryce and I had much more fun watching Jack with his Christmas gifts! He was right in on all the action just like a little kid!:)

Who knew he'd be so excited about a litter box rug!

"Is there anything else in here?"

Seriously, Jack got more stuff than Bryce and I! These aren't just gifts that we got him either. I think a couple friends and family felt sorry for Jack because of his vet visits, leg warmers and shaved belly.:) Look at all the loot!

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The day after Christmas we headed to Utah to see our families!

We spent a couple days in Erda with the Shields and had tons of fun! Our sister-in-law Anjela was baptised on Saturday and we're so glad we could be there. We're so happy for her and her little family!

(I always forget to take pictures while we're with Bryce's family because no one else is taking pictures! I really wish I would have taken some. We had a great weekend with the family.)

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Bryce had to head back to Lovelock on Sunday and I headed to Blanding! My mom had a late little Christmas party for me and the family that was still in Blanding. Thanks mom!! You're awesome!
I love spending time with my family during the holidays! They're so great!

We exchanged gifts and of course the kids loved opening theirs. . . . .and helping with everyone elses.:)

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I had to throw this picture in because it's so cute! I got this book for the kids and they love to have Grandma Joy read to them!

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There was tons of snow in Blanding so it was a very white Christmas!

Check out the ice sickles on my parents' house!

On Tuesday we decided to take the kids tubing at the 4th Reservoir. The hills were awesome and we had them all to ourselves for a couple hours!

Jett and Tenli had tons of fun and they looked so dang cute all bundled up in their snow gear!

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My mom is not much of a risk taker but we finally convinced her to go down a hill. . . . .and she loved it!

It was the perfect day to go tubing! We had a few too many layers on and had to remove a couple because it was so warm!

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It was a way fun day! Thanks mom and dad!