Happy Thanksgiving!!!
I know you're all amazed that I'm posting...but I told you when I had more time I would. And since I get this beautiful three day break, I thought I post some pictures of Thanksgiving with the Frakes. So...here goes!

Frakes Family (minus Travis)

Good lookin' guys!
Pretty Ladies (no, I'm not pregnant - I definitely think I look like it...apparently I slouch a bit)
Our Christmas Picture!
Paige and me!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and thought about all we have to be thankful for. Despite my constant complaining about school, I'm so grateful to be getting an education and that I am able to finish. I'm grateful for all of you and the love we share as family and friends! Enjoy the Christmas season!

Okay, so I'm completely copying Melissa, but I wanted to tell everyone about this movie Nate and I went to and I didn't want to wait until I talked to everyone (since I talk to most of you about once every three months!) The movie is called Stardust -- I'm sure most of you have heard of it and maybe some of you thought what I thought "That looks so dumb." Nathan, however, heard good things about it and decided we should go. I ended up loving it. It's one of my favorite movies that quick. The music is great, the effects are pretty cool. It's strange, I'll grant you. You start out thinking "what is this movie" but end up liking the idea if you can get into the whole fantasy thing. I recommend it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet! Thanks for the idea Melissa! And we will totally take you up on the offer for the Hula Hut when we come to visit....

Okay, I have 20 minutes until class, so I'm gonna make this quick.... :) So here's my meme....
The rules are...
A. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
B. Tag seven people to do the same.
C. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag "whoever wants to do it".

1. I have a shoe and purse fettish. I never really buy them because usually the ones I like most are too expensive, but I always notice people's shoes and stop in every store that has either shoes or purses. Plus, to make matters worse, my shoes, belt, purse, etc. need to match. I'm getting better about not making my purse match, but for a kid who wore the most random outfits, I sure like to have my clothes match a lot now. That kind of turned into two things, huh?

2. I don't like M&M's (just the plain ones), because someone told me one time that you have to run the length of a football field to burn it off. That's all I think about when I see plain M&M's. However, I have no problem eating peanut M&M's or peanut butter M&M's both of which I think are less healthy, so I'm not sure what that's about.

3. I am super baby hungry. And it's not really for brand new babies (though they are cute). It's more like "Toddler hungry" - from about age 1 year-3 years. I think they're so cute and I want one. :)

4. Kind of going along with the last one, I think pregnant people are so cute. I've never talked to a woman who actually thought she was cute while she was pregnant, so I don't think I will of myself, but I think the clothes are cute and just that cute little bump!

5. My favorite thing to do in life is watch a good movie. Seriously. I LOVE watching movies and if make me sound totally lazy. Maybe I am!

6. Sometimes I open my eyes during prayers to watch the person who is praying, just to see what their facial expression is like. Some people are just kind of stoned-faces and some people really get expressionate (is that a word?). I know I really shouldn't do that, and I don't all the time, but if it just seems like the person might be showing expression, I'll open my eyes, just to check.

7. My favorite food in the world is Ramen. I know most people say it's gross and only eat it because it's cheap, but it is my FAVORITE and has been since I was about 4. I know it's really bad for me, but I just love the taste (probably because it's so salty and I love salty foods!).

So that's that. I'm not sure if I did it right, but there you go. Off to class I go!
Oh, and the 7 people are: Melanie, Suzie, Dad, Ryan Harding, Christine Harding, Emily (I can't remember if you already got tagged), & Shan (same as Em).

I saw Em's post and realized I don't need to post pictures to say hi and explain why I haven't posted. My reason isn't the same as Em's (in fact, I should probably give Em my camera for awhile...). To explain my lack of blogging, I need to explain my life right now. Here's an average day: I wake up at about 6:30 or 7 (depending on how tired I am), go to work for about 8 hours, go to school for 2 1/2 to 5 hours, do homework until I pass out, do it all again the next day. Oh and weekends consist of homework. :)
Nate and I decided right before this new semester started that since he would be doing the accounting junior core (which, we were told over and over was hell on earth) and I would never see him anyway, PLUS we figured out it would be cheaper this way, I am now taking 17 1/2 credits of night classes while working full time during the day (but there's a light at the end of the tunnel - I will graduate in December!!!). Needless to say, we don't have time to do anything that would make very interesting pictures. To add to that, our camera card isn't working. We can take pictures, but we can't get them off the camera. The plan is to get a new card, but we don't have time for that (I use that phrase a lot lately :)
But for those of you who actually still check our blog from time to time, know that I look at yours and love to hear what's going on in your lives. And just for information, I just found out the girl I work with is pregnant, which leaves only 1 other married friend who isn't pregnant...what can I say, I'm feeling the pressure! :) But no, not pregnant. Can you imagine me pregnant and working full time and taking night classes full time? That's a joke. :) Hopefully you all will hear from me again...someday... Love you!
Alisa & Nate

I feel terrible. I think I was the first one (at least from our family) to start a blog and I now look at all of your cute posts and never put anything. Part of the reason is because we don't have internet at our house anymore. I'm hoping once school starts again I'll be able to find time to add stuff while I'm on campus (by then, however, Nathan will have started the accounting program and everyone tells me I won't see him for the next few months, so maybe I won't have much to post...) The point of this is, I feel terrible that I haven't posted and actually have some pictures to post, so I'll do that as soon as I get the chance! Until then, we're doing great and look the same! :) We love you all!

Take the Quiz here!

AJ showed me this link and I think I knew a long time ago I was most like her. Take the quiz! It's really fun (especially if you're a Jane Austen freak like me)!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

ALTA'S MARRIED!!!

I finally used my camera again. I had a great excuse! And I thought I'd share with those of you that couldn't be at Alta's wedding how beautiful she looked, how beautiful the day was and how much fun we had! (And of course, how much we missed all of you...)








Here's the happy couple and something you'll never see again -- Michael holding a pretty little bouquet (though I've seen lots of pictures of guys holding the bouquet at some point in the picture taking...)















I decided we needed some new pictures of us that weren't from Moab, so we took a few at the wedding. Cute, huh? :)









She looked so beautiful! She said I should have been crying in this picture because she was crying in our picture together at my wedding.









The flowers on the temple grounds were beautiful. I think I took too many, but this was my favorite.

LOOK I'M POSTING!!!!!

It's even before the 21st! :) However, Nathan and I apparently have forgotten that we have a new, nice camera that takes great pictures. We really haven't taken many. But I will post some from our trip to Moab. That seems to be the only cool thing in our lives. Moab. :)This is the first picture we have from Moab in the few times we've been there that I look HUMAN. It was insanely cold that weekend and it rained most of the time we were there (we decided this would be a good time to camp...)
I was in a semi-bad mood this day (probably partly because none of us got any sleep because Darren heard someone outside the girls' tent and no one slept well for the rest of the night). But my hubby still loves me, despite my crabbiness! :)

Okay, you were probably expecting more from me, but I'll be honest -- I don't have anything cute to take pictures of. Nathan and I are pretty boring compared to all ya'lls chilluns. :) But we both want you all to know that we love you and think of you often! If I can figure out the One True Media thing, I'll post a sweet video too. :)

For those of you who are wondering if I dropped off the face of the earth when I started this new job...I have. :) Or at least I feel like it. I promise to post pictures sometime between now and April 21. :) I know that's a long time, but that's when I'm done with school and have spring break at work. Until then, know that I love all your pictures and will try to be better. :) I love you all!

I got a new job! I am the new office manager at Kids Village, a preschool/elementary school for children from 2 years old through fourth grade. I love it! I get to spend the whole day with kids and work in an office! I'm very excited about it (though I am changing my whole graduation plan for it... :) I don't have any pictures, but if you're curious, the website it www.kidsvillage.net.

Okay, so I realize this isn't a picture of me, but I thought this was a great picture of grandma and grandpa with a cute little addition. Hopefully they'll still be around when I have a little cutie to take pictures with them!
...And the next generation of grandpa. Poor Mr. Charlie who would only go to sleep being bounced a certain way...grandpa did a pretty good job, huh?
On our drive home, we needed a break after driving across the reservation in Arizona, so we stopped at the north edge of the grand canyon and took some fun pictures. And Stella was in a great mood (and AJ and I were a little bit too hyper :)




And since I don't really put many pictures of Nathan and I (and since this is supposed to be a blog of US) I thought I'd put one of our cute engagement pictures back when my hair would do what I wanted it to. :) Plus, it's a good picture, eh? I think we look like clothing models. He he

This is me in my new glasses. In case you didn't know, I got glasses. :) I have been having trouble reading and getting lots of headaches, so I went to the eye doctor and found out I need them for reading, but also that I have astigmatism -- three times worse in my right eye than my left!
Last Friday, Nathan, his friend Damien, his girlfriend Natalya and I decided to do something super crazy. We went to the hot springs down by Fillmore when it was probably about 0 degrees outside. This is what happened to our hair by the time we got from the spring back to the car (about 200 yards of running to keep from getting hypothermia). It was an adventure, but I don't think I'll ever do it again when it's that cold!

Okay, I'll admit this pictures pretty gross, but I wanted you all to see my owie. I fell on the ice when I was walking to work one morning and ripped my favorite pants and ruined my favorite shoes, as well as ripping up my knee and foot. It still hurts. :(
And the best picture! I promised at least Melanie and mom that I would take a picture with Stella in her Ugs. She's such a cute, silly little munchkin. She also has some very-80's-style high top tennis shoes. They're pretty awesome. :)

EMO! This is for those of you (AJ and Ben) who don't know what Emo is (for those of you confused about why I'm even putting Emo stuff, go to www.thendcoxes.blogspot.com ). Sorry, they're not great pictures, but they give you the idea...



NOT EMO!!!! I just thought that since this post looks extremely bleak and...not like me...I'd put a good picture. This is a good man. See? You don't have to dress crazy to be important/noticed!

This is for those of you who don't live in Provo, but hear me talk about our friends here. Before Christmas, we had a little party with the people in this picture (and AJ and Josh). The couple on the far left is James and Amy Drysdale. James is an accounting major like Nathan. Then there's us (I look like a freak in this picture, by the way, but...whatever). The couple to the right of us is Troy and Lindsey Tanner. We probably spend the most time with them. It's funny because Nathan and Lindsey are very similar and Troy and I are similar. We and they are proof that opposites attract! The couple next to the Tanners is Jeremy and Hannah Zitting. They are our next door neighbors and they love playing games with us as well! We have great friends!

Merry Christmas!

Okay, so none of these pictures are very Christmas-like, but they are what I took over the break! We got a new camera for Christmas from Nathan's parents, so hopefully, I'll start being better at taking pictures!












This first one is just a picture dad took of Nathan and me. We don't have any pictures of us except for our engagement and wedding pictures. I guess it's about time we take some more!


Nathan became obsessed with Monopoly over Christmas break, so he played a few times. He never won. :)











Lindsey and Kim had a blast in the hot tub "poppin the bubbly." I joined them and even ran around in the snow and jumped back in the hot tub. (I am wearing a swimming suit even though it doesn't look like it. It only has one strap...)














Jakey Wakey loved the attention Lindsey gave him so he had to make sure she gave him ALL her attention. It was pretty random.

"A freakin' 12-gauge, waddaya think?" I shot a gun this weekend. Two of them, actually. And one was, in fact, a freakin' 12-gauge. It kinda hurt, but only for a second. I don't have a picture of me shooting it, but included is a picture of Kippy shooting a 22 (which I also shot) and Nathan holding the 12-gauge in the back. Looks big, huh? :)










This is Nathan and the deer he shot with his dad. I tried to avoid sending the pictures with the deer's insides showing. I don't want to get nauseous when I look at my own blog (no, I'm not pregnant).











And the girls, who spent the weekend having fun! We watched Gilmore Girls, played with each other's hair and Kim did Mel's makeup. I cut Suzie's bangs (which is the last time I cut hair. Ever :).

My Daddy
Since Momma can't seem to find time to post stuff, I thought I'd post this silly one of dad from when Xander was born. I wasn't there, but mom sent me the pictures and now this picture is on my desktop at work. One of the professors was a little confused as to why I had that picture up... :) If he only knew...

My Fishy! Here's a picture of my beautiful fish that Nathan surprised me with on Friday. His name is Pez and I love him. :)


Alas, it wasn't meant to be. He died today. Good thing I tried a fish before I tried a kid. I'm definitely not ready. You can all cry with me if you'd like. :(

Happy Halloween!...A little late. Finally I have a bit of time to put up these pictures. These are just some fun pics from carving pumkins at Martha's and then my Halloween party at work. Stella was the star of the evening in her little skunk costume. :)


This is the picture Nathan took right before he stabbed me with a pumpkin poker. It has finally healed (I also stabbed myself in the finger, lest you think he's the only one stabbing me).
These are our pumkins! (the two on the right. Mine and Nathan's is the fish...I was a little bit obsessed...And AJ and Josh's is the one with the Stars! Wait til you see the back!)
Okay! Here's the back. In case you can't tell, it says "Stella" I think these two are a little bit obsessed with their kid... :) This is at my work party. I am a gypsy (that was fun) and Nathan is the Brawny man -- he thought of that in about 2 minutes. :)
For those of you who haven't seen "Over the Hedge" the skunk on that movie is named Stella. What a perfect costume, huh? She was the highlight of my work party -- she even got some votes for the best costume.