Happy Halloween!!

I usually hate Halloween.  I like the decorations, and I LOVE dressing up, but I HATE all the scary, spooky-ness that comes with Halloween. Luckily I figured out a long time ago that I don't have to watch scary movies or go through haunted houses.  Us sissies can still have fun during the Halloween season.

Every year we all dress up for work, have a grand old time, eat amazing chili from bread bowls, bring our kids (for those that have them) to trick or treat around the office and fit some work in there some place.

This years conclusion: Dressing up is only fun if everyone does it.   The people that feel embarrassed or dumb about dressing up, and end up coming in jeans, just end up making the rest of us that actually dressed up feel stupid.  If that makes sense.  I think we need to instill a little more of the "go big or go home" mindset into these people.  Coming from someone who's previous costume was pinning cotton balls on blue scrubs and carrying a squirt gun as "Cloudy with a Chance of Rain,"  I can tell you that your costumes do not have to be elaborate or even expensive! 

Anyways.... rant over.

This year my whole family dressed up!  I don't have the picture of everyone yet, but here's a few that I do have....

MOM:

 

She's so great! 
All the ladies at her work dressed like this
but in their own super hero.  Adorable :)

DAD:

 

Player from the Minecraft game

Only a few people will get this one,
but it's still a cool costume!

 

ME:

Scary, I know.



Parker used my costume idea from last year and taped numbers all over his shirt.  He's "Someone you can count on!" :)  I didn't get a picture of him before I left, but he's looking pretty spiffy! Hopefully I'll have more pictures to come! Happy Halloween!!

P.S. Songza failed me on Halloween music stations, turned back to Pandora and found some awesome playlists! 





Good Reads

Found this post last week and I think it's one that will be re-visited quite often.  I felt awkward sharing this with my parents and friends because I'm not married, but I really do think that this has a lot of great advise for ANY relationship.  So read it..... go HERE.  I'm now following his blog too because I think he writes so well, and could have a lot of good insight.  When I find things like this it really makes me feel sooo grateful for the Internet and for the raw honesty people put into their blogs.  We all go through our own lives, but to be able to share experiences and learn from others mistakes is a true gift in my opinion. Of course this all doesn't have to happen on the Internet with complete strangers, I've learned a lot from my parents and other family members/friends.  Keep on keepin' on people!  We can dominate life together! :)

Thermals

Today is a wonderful day for Firsts!  First snow fall (I don't count yesterday, it didn't stick or really even fall), First day of wearing thermals to work, First taste of crappy winter drivers and First game in a new soccer league!  I loved this morning's commute because it was snowing, every song on the radio was fantastic and I was accompanied by my new favorite drink - Pumpkin Pie Spice Hot Chocolate.  mmmmm! 

I also have this slight urge to turn on Christmas music...but I'm resisting. I have to remember that it hasn't even been Halloween yet.  Focus.  I need to carve a pumpkin to keep myself in October.

Found this quote on Pinterest, and it was so empowering!  I can apply it to anything - spirituality, lifestyle, habits, lack of habits, motivation, exercise, relationships, family, friends, whatever!  It's just nice to remember that we have control of our own story.  It's up to us to make it a good one.

P.S. I am ALMOST done with my messenger bag! I spent a lot of time working on it last night and it looks awesome so far!  Pictures to come!

Oh What a Wonderful Weeekenddd!!

I'm still hurting from this weekend, but man it was a good one!  Friday night PK, J-bird, Jessica Rabbit (inside joke... sorry mom) and I went to dinner then hit the Quarry for some weekend climbing!  I was a little wary when Parker said he wanted to go rock climbing, because the only memories that have ever stuck with me about this activity is PAIN.  The next day I always have a hard time holding on to anything because my weak arm muscles have been destroyed.  However, Parker was dead set on the idea so we went!

Look kids! Spiderman!

Look who we bumped into! What's up Levi!

Almost over the ledge!

Domination.

 

 

Notice how the majority of the pictures are of Parker..... that should give you a good clue as to who had the most endurance.  Me... duh.  Belaying is hard work people! ;)  Well despite being extremely tired afterwards, I did have a lot of fun!  I might even do it again!  I think that this is something that if you did it often enough, you'd have a killer body in no time. 

 

Saturday morning my family and my cousins next door all helped my grandparents out by winterizing their front and back yards.  We filled two trailers full of weeds and dead things!  It was a lot of work, and it did quite a number on my already sore hands, arms and shoulders, but in the end it looked sooo good!  Grandpa was still out there helping where he could, but I'm glad we could do this for him. He's 91 for crying out loud, the guy deserves a break!

 

Sunday brought church with Holli (it only took us 3 tries and a lot of wandering to find a singles ward in Provo), lounging around to rest our poor muscles and a history making tournament of Yahtzee!  In 2 games, we totaled 10 Yahtzees between all of us!  What the?!  The first game no one got a Yahtzee, and by the end dad had 3 Yahtzees in one game! Wow, it was so crazy and so much fun.  Every single time someone would get a Yahtzee we would throw our hands up in the air screaming while the lucky man/woman would dance around the table.  And, would you guess that my Yahztee was with all 4's?  That's right, I'm kind of a big deal. :)

 

 

LOL

If you need a good laugh for your Friday morning, go here:

http://www.nicegirlnotes.com/inanimate-objects

I'd like to add corners and cheese graters to that list.  No matter how wide I swing, the corner always jumps out and tags me.  Cheese graters, don't like fingers.  Enough said.

Have a great weekend!

Traffic and Updates!

Yeah maybe I'll be a little more patient with our construction induced traffic after looking at the traffic in Albania....  Elder Francis.... good luck keeping your sanity while driving in that!

Updates:

Parker and I went bowling this weekend - my first time dusting off my bowling ball and shoes in about a year! I'm pretty sure I'm a little sore from the 3 games we played.  It was a lot of fun though :)

I finished the Office season 5!  My mom just re-activated her Netflix account so now I can watch seasons 6-8 too! I'm obsessed....

I started my messenger bag that I mentioned back here!  Sewed my first lined pockets all by myself :)  Huge personal victory.  Fist pump.

And last but not least, my grandpa turns 91 this Wednesday!!!!

Overwhelmed

First off, happy 10/11/12 day!  This won't happen again until next year on 11/12/13, so savor this day......

So lately I've been wandering off into the blogging word, trying to see what is really out there.  Honestly I feel the way I did when I first started Facebook.  I looked at everyone and anyones pictures, and eventually I would realize I had ended up looking at someones pictures who was a friend of a friend of a cousin's friend, wondering how I got there.... you get the point. 

While I've been searching, who knows what for, I've come across some absolutely fantastic blogs/websites.   Here's a list of my new favorites:  (Click to view their awesome websites)

Blissful and Domestic
High Heels and Grills
Nice Girl Notes
Cold Hands Warm Hearts
Elle Apparel

After finding Blissful and Domestic today, all of a sudden I became overwhelmed.  There are a million people out there that have fantastic websites/blogs on every type of subject: crafts, food, DIY, finances, work, sewing, time management, stress relief, exercising, etc.  I want to buy a house now while the interest rates are low and I have little expenses, and I want to set up all my food storage, I want to sew a cover for everything...the list could go on and on!  It's exhausting to think about all the things I 'could' be doing.  I feel like I want to research all of it, make all of it, but there is so much information I couldn't possibly apply it all.  Everyone has their awesome tips, tricks and secrets, and I don't know how I can possibly remember everything.  Honestly, my compulsive need to put everything in a chart or report is eating away at me right now - I would LOVE to make an excel spreadsheet with individual life categories with little tips under each one.  Basically I want to put my brain and everyone elses brains on paper and make it all organized and neat.  But, where do you start?! 

So, I've decided I'm starting with a budget.  That's something I feel like I can tackle right now.  Next month, maybe it will be setting up a cleaning chart/schedule.  Who knows. 

And to wrap up this explosion of thoughts, if anyone has any great tips on budgeting, let me know.  I'll be trying to figure out all my options, and making one work for me that is realistic..... wish me luck!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Crunchwrap Supreme

Last night I made a homemade version of the Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme!!  I got the recipe here, and figured it was within my skill level.  HUGE SUCCESS!  I highly recommend this recipe!  It's fun to make, and they tasted so good! 

Hers.

Mine.

I didn't have time to take a picture of the inside because
I ate it too fast.... :) 

*Only suggestion: make sure to cook the corn tortillas as long as you need to to make sure it's really crunchy. Mine took longer than 3 minutes...

Manual Training

Parker and I practiced driving my car in the church parking lot last night!  Parker had never driven a stick shift before and asked me to teach him.  no pressure. 

He started off perfectly his first try!  Then he got comfortable, made a few mistakes, then started over thinking everything.... and then the whiplash started.  :) Overall he did really well, just needs a bit more practice!  Looks like I know what we'll be doing this weekend!  

October To Do List

I think I'm going to start doing To-Do lists for projects I want to do during each month.  They might actually get done if I set a time frame, eh?   I can only hope....

 

OCTOBER TO DO LIST:

 

Paint bookshoeshelf

 

Sew this Messenger bag



De-Junk bathroom and kitchen storage boxes

Sew this iPhone case

Start going to the cycling class with my mom

 

Watch this.

Finish this.

I'm off to a good start if you ask me!  I found the bookcase at a yard sale for $15! Booyah! (So much better than the cheapest one I could find....$75)  I have been trying to figure out how to keep my shoes organized and I think this will work!  This way I can look at all my beautiful vans, and none of my shoes will get squished.  I bought the fabric and have it all cut out for the messenger bag and I'll use scraps I have to make the iPhone case.  I have a few more hopeful items I could add to this list, but I'll start here first.  Don't want to get too ambitious. :)

P.S. click on the de-junk link, you'll find an awesome list of questions to ask yourselve while de-junking!

 



Daybreak

Guess where I was able to go yesterday?! 

Oquirrh Mountain LDS Temple

This was my first trip to South Jordan and can I just say I was more than impressed.   The Oquirrh Mountain temple always scared me with it's odd name.  Is that terrible of me to say? It's terrible huh? Face into palm. Usually I don't trust things I can't spell.  So I practiced the spelling a few times, got down the pronunciation and I was good to go! :)  First off, this temple is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  I don't know if you're supposed to pick favorites, but my mom said it was okay, so it's settled, this is my new favorite.  It's on top of a hill, right in Daybreak and is just so aesthetically appealing.  Secondly, Daybreak..... WOW.  I had heard that it was quite fantastic, but no one prepared me for how adorable every single house was.  They were still pretty good sized houses for being so close together, and the whole neighborhood was immaculately clean - decorated in the style I currently can only Pin about.   Seeing all those cute houses made me want my own so badly!  I have to admit, I've been looking at them all morning.  Yeah.... looks like I'll just have to keep pinning my Daybreak house dreams for awhile. :)

I am so grateful that I was able to go to the temple yesterday.  I can't even describe the overwhelming peace, happiness and spirit that I felt the instant I walked through those doors.   I need that peace in my busy life, and I need it more consistently.   I've made an October resolution, that I will go to the temple every Thursday to do Baptisms.  We'll see how it turns out, but I'm really excited to give it a try! 

Here's to a good weekend - and a happy birthday Mr. Mitchell!