Katie, Lately

 

you don't ever question the purchase of classic 80's movies on the $5 rack.

 

a couple weekends ago, our good friends Chris and Tracy invited us to the symphony with them. Tracy works for the symphony, so it was cool to get some background information we wouldn't have otherwise known! Abravanel Hall is absolutely beautiful, the symphony was amazing, but we definitely didn't feel fancy enough! It was a good time though.

 

Night capped the symphony with a late night dessert at Gourmandise, of course. 

 

And when you go to Gourmandise on the weekends, it only makes sense to pick up a few turnovers to eat for breakfast the next morning. Also, grandpa slippers. They're my new jam. 

 

Okay, this dog. He just loves the snow more than anything in the world, and I love it.

 

LOOK at that face. I just can't.

 

Snow covered christmas trees on display outside the grocery store make me so happy.

 

The guys I work with have taken to playing poker on their lunch break - I think they were practicing for the company christmas party.

 

I spent way too much time on christmas cards this year. I wanted to practice calligraphy, so I hand-wrote every address (50 of them!) in my best fancy handwriting, stuffed and stamped each envelope, and cut little flag buntings out of glitter washi tape. I was ONE card short. GAH (3 trips to Costco just for the photos at this point) - so I hope you enjoy our christmas card when it gets to your mailbox! 

 

My company christmas party was this weekend and we had a Casino Night! After we all opened our secret santa gifts (which I didn't do this year because it was way too stressful and way too embarrassing last year), we had a drawing for some awesome prizes. I won a really nice 5 piece luggage set! I was so excited about it, because I've never owned official luggage! After that, we ate to our heart's content (so. much. food) and played casino games! We didn't play with actual money, just chip vouchers for points, but I didn't know how to play any casino games. Devin and I were planning on leavning by 7 or 8! We went to the roulette table just to give it a try, and stayed there almost all night, it was so much fun! We tried blackjack for awhile, but I just kept losing and table was crowded, and then Devin gave Craps a try (pictured above), which I didn't understand a single thing - it was like a different language! So we ended up back at roulette. The dealer was so cool, and I loved that game! We didn't leave until the party was over, and we had the greatest time. I work with some of the greatest and most talented people I know, and even though seeing them all get incredibly drunk was a little weird, we had so much fun, and I love Cascade more than any other job I've ever had. I feel so lucky to be a part of the Cascade Family!

 

This guy gets extra lovey when he knows we're about to leave.

We moved church buildings a few months ago and our new building is up on this hill in the very back corner of Herriman (still only about 2 minutes from our house). There are tons of stairs to get up to the church doors, but when you turn around and look back, you get this mind blowing view of the salt lake valley. This picture just shows the smog and inversion, but on a clear day, this view is absolutely breathtaking!



How cute is the french macaron dish towel? My sweet friend Lynn gave it to me for Christmas along with a Utah shaped ornament, and a crochet headband from her shop! I told Devin that I was going to put that dish towel in the kitchen, but he couldn't use it, haha! I don't want it to get dirty or ruined, it's just too pretty! I have the greatest friends, it's true.