i'm not trying to rub it in

we thought it would be fun to stay at a hotel for a night while we're in hawaii, but we knew we probably shouldn't spend the money. i decided to look around on our marriott rewards account and totally scored. i mean royally. we just booked two nights at the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club. wait. it gets better. we used points so we only had to pay $75. seriously? insane. we are out of our minds excited. 

our lovely travel agent hooked us up with an amazing deal on flights too. and with our amex points we will have to pay even less. for reals? we are SO blessed. 

I'm in a pretty killer mood right now. it's friday. we're leaving work early to go to the movies and dinner. we have a 3 day weekend. the forecast looks like monday will be a beach day. life is grand.

i also got some gift cards for glen ivy for christmas from tyler and jessica. i made an appointment for an 80 minute massage for tomorrow, new years eve. that's right folks. i'm starting the new year right. 

relaxed. peaceful. serene.

happy new year!!!

i talked to tyler today about setting some rex family goals this weekend. i'll let you know what we come up with. a lot may change for us in 2012.

i'm pretty excited about it.

see ya later

good news folks. we just booked flights to honolulu, hawaii to visit tyler's brother and celebrate our four year anniversary, tyler's graduation and tyler's birthday. we are SO excited to get away for an entire week and spend time with family and have some time to ourselves without worrying about work or school. we haven't had a vacation free from the worry of school ummm... like... ever! this is something we've been looking forward to for years!

needless to say we are stoked. just two weeks from today we will be flying off to paradise and leaving the mainland to basque in the sun. 

woohoo!

i. can't. wait.

i'll never forget

i'll never forget the weekend tyler finished his bachelors degree. it was so much fun to celebrate with him and honor his huge accomplishment. 

on thursday night he came home to this...

then we went to bj's for some pizza & then it was party time with the grochmals at portillo's.

on friday we slept in, went to a movie, ate at houston's and did a little christmas shopping with the dicksons.

i also surprised him and got him another gift. see the photo below.

on saturday we took it easy, slept in and ran some errands. the evening was spent eating a delicious meal with jered & mariah robinson and kristen dalton. then we hit balboa to see some christmas lights. 

our night ended at the balboa candy shop. simply magical. 

i love christmas time. 

tis the season

kimberly brought brylee over in her christmas pjs to surprise me. kimmy knows how much i love christmas. when we were browsing around target a while back i just about forced her to buy each and every christmas onesie they had. 

pretty sure that was in october. 

i'm obsessed. i know. 

so of course i was ecstatic when i saw brylee girl's adorable outfit that she got from old navy. let's just hope i can find some as cute as this for our kiddos someday!

merry christmas!

thursday

today is tuesday.

tomorrow is wednesday.

the day after that is thursday.

and thursday is a special day in our house.

on thursday at 5 o'clock in the evening tyler will take his final final exam.

words cannot express the excitement that i am feeling. tyler is very calm and quietly attending study groups, typing away on the laptop and preparing for his last days of school. i am so very proud of him. finishing his bachelors has in no way been an easy ride, but he has endured and in just a couple days he will be able to say he is a college grad. he will be the first man in his family and i was the first woman in my family. i am so glad that we will be able to tell our children that we both finished college while we were married, living in so cal and working. we worked hard and together we accomplished a very important goal.

 i am so grateful to my husband for all of his hard work. someday, instead of working for the family business & running my photography business i will be able to quit my full time job to be home with our children while doing photography part time. i will be working, but the majority of my work will be in our home. but mr. rex will continue to work full time to provide for our family and i take great comfort in that. knowing that he will always be there to support me (in so many ways) just gives me a sense of peace.

i am just feeling really grateful for him today. grateful for who he is. grateful for who he has become. grateful for the knowledge that i get to keep him forever as long as i behave myself.

i'm excited for thursday, but even more excited for all the days after that. 

the clausen family

the clausen family photo shoot is up on the photography blog.

see more cuteness here.

sometimes

sometimes life doesn't go according to plan. sometimes one tiny thing you do changes the course of a day, a relationship or possibly even the course of your life. sometimes life knocks you down. sometimes someone you thought was on your side really isn't. sometimes you feel like you have to prove yourself over and over again. sometimes they wont like you no matter how hard you try. sometimes people surprise you, in good ways and bad. sometimes you have to realize that things will never be the same.

sometimes you read a scripture and it is exactly what you need at that exact moment. sometimes your spouse does something sweet when you've had a long day. sometimes your sister just happens to be there to give you a hug when sadness ensues. sometimes you go in to renew your temple recommend and your stake president gives you the advice you didn't know you were looking for. sometimes you see new life & it restores your faith in humanity. sometimes you realize that no matter how lame life gets, no matter how many people turn their back, no matter how many times you fall down... 

there is still a Heavenly Father and a Savior and they're on your side. 

i am so blessed to know that He loves me and you.

i am so blessed to know that all that bad stuff just doesn't matter. 

so you think i'm not so great? 

i have news for you... i. don't. care.

at this point in my life i can say that i am done trying to please others. i'm done trying to fit some mold of what others think i need to be. i am me. of course i am always changing in little ways, trying to be better, trying to learn from those around me, trying to strengthen my testimony & grow closer to my Heavenly Father, my savior and my husband.

to the people who have and continue to influence me for good i say...

i love you & you may never know how much you have really changed me.

to the people who cut me down, leave me out or judge me i say...

it's too bad that it had to be this way. i will no longer be held back by your negativity.

i have a lot to be thankful for. life is pretty good. but sometimes there are dark times.

President Monson says... the future is only as bright as your faith. 

and i know that to be true.

things i love: christmas edition

i got a coupon in the mail for the local beauty supply store so i treated myself to some new o.p.i holiday colors. 

i am loving these!

the one on the left is french quarter for your thoughts

the one on the right is designer... de better!

a very she & him christmas. 

loving this. 

and these nordstrom shopping bags. they are SO cute!

i always love going to nordstrom and during christmas time i love it even more. it is so festive, it smells amazing and it just feels like christmas in there. i can't explain it. maybe it's just me, but the holiday season is not the same if i don't walk through norstrom at least once. 

christmas is here

well ladies and gentlemen... christmas has arrived over at the rex house. we have all our decorations up and the tree is decorated and lit. 

i. am. in. love. 

each time i open the door i am happy to be here. happy to have a cozy apartment to come home to after a long day. happy to have a warm snuggle partner. happy to breathe in the smells of the season.

friday night was wonderful. we had a sweet dinner date and headed to home depot for our tree. the first tree we spotted was the one. how did we get so lucky again? it was such a perfect tree, right at the front of the lot. i couldn't believe it was still there. maybe it was meant to be. 

we got home, rearranged some furniture and got to decorating. i love it. 

then we heard a knock at the door and much to our surprise we were greeted by our cousins, the daltons & brylee and kimberly! it was so much fun to visit with josh & laura who live up in san jose. i especially enjoyed feeding baby jared chocolate covered raisins. what can i say? 

i'm a sucker for cute little boys. 

after the daltons went home jay, kristen, brylee & kim stayed to watch movies and bake cookies. it was a wonderful night. definitely what the holiday season is all about. 

just being together. being happy to be with one another. being grateful for our growing family.

we are so very blessed. 

and my favorite ornament of the year...

we hope your christmas season is merry & bright! 

our turkey day

the weekend started with making pies over at my parents house.

i made my traditional pumpkin pie from a trader joes pumpkin, branched out and made some pumpkin snickerdoodles and an apple pie. 

this was my first apple pie. i fell in love. 

dad crashed the party and took us out for hibachi.

 thursday we started at my parents house. it was brylee sue's first thanksgiving! mom read brylee christmas stories, the boys watched football, we played with brylee & ate a yummy meal. 

thanks mom & dad. 

then it was off to the rex/brady/forsgren dinner... everything was decorated super cute & there was quite a spread. and emerson & scarlett also got to experience their first thanksgiving!

hope you all had a great weekend. we had a few days of fun, spent friday together & then were struck with food poisoning on friday night & saturday. but we took care of each other, got to cuddle a lot and catch up on tv watchin'. 

hopefully we are done being sick for a while so we can enjoy the holiday season & so tyler can finish his bachelors with as much strength as he can get!