I'm Coming Home And That Is Awesome!

Just 16 days until I pay 20 extra dollars to get 2 overpacked suitcases onto a plane that will fly me back to a mountain covered desert. I am coming home! I land on Novemember 15th and will be in town until December 2nd. I haven't seen Utah since I left July 10th, about 4 months ago. I can't wait to see my parents, my family and friends, my parents dogs, Brycer, my neices and nephews, the mountains, all the friends little kiddlets, my cute grandparents and lots more. As unimaginable as this sounds, I am excited to see my office and of course my friends from work. I can't wait to eat yummy Thanksgiving food, have Brittney do my hair the Tuesday after I land, watch the Utes kick BYU's booty on the 22nd, go to DownEast, JMR, Fashion Place mall, Gateway Mall, Rumbi and of course drink Chuck-a-rama's water. Needless to say, I am getting a little excited. So start planning now peeps, cause we'll have a crazy-awesome 18 days while I am there!

Just A Typical Oregon Run

I went on a run today and decided to bring my camera and my friend Deneal along. I brought my camera because I wanted to try and capture the amazing-ness that is Oregon fall and I brought Deneal along to show her that the huge hill by my house isn't so bad. Fun ensued.

The pictures to follow are the things that I see on my favorite run here in LO. I run to the temple and home which is about 5 miles. It seems that every time I walk outside these last couple weeks the beauty of every thing around seriously takes my breath away. The leaves are incredible. The weather has been incredible. If for no other reason, I run just to experience the beauty before the leaves fall and the sky turns grey. Now I share it with you...

The start of the run

The next 2 are the same trees, but I just found out my camera has this functionality that can pick out one color and make the rest of the picture black and white. You will see a few of those pictures mixed throughout.


I see these bushes all over here... they are bright red and oh so pretty!

Deneal running. Ummm, no this was not staged.



I bet you didn't know I could climb a tree. Well, this is as far as I got!

Portland Temple

Deneal and the bright yellow tree




I wish it could stay like this forever, but then, would I be so grateful?

Apples + Pumpkins = Fun

There is a first for everything - today was the first time I have ever made applesauce and the first time I have used my crock pot, even though I insisted my mom get me one for Christmas last year! (Turns out a single gal doesn't make as many crock pot dinners as one might imagine.) Shannon and Dan went to the apple orchard yesterday and bought lots of apples, they were nice enough to pick me 10. Shannon and I decided we would try making homemade applesauce with our apples. When I picked my apples up from their house we peeled, cut and seasoned them. I brought them home, threw them in the crock pot for 4 hours and YUM, homemade applesauce!
The Beginning...

The End...

Mmmm... That's good!


While the apples were in the crock pot I had some friends over for a pumpkin party! We made mini corn muffins, pumpkin cookies and decorated pumpkins for Halloween. You will notice that I painted my pumpkin. New this year - I decided to buy a fake pumpkin and paint it so that I could keep it through Thanksgiving and add it to my decorations for years to come! The weather was so beautiful that we were able to set up a table on the porch and enjoy the beautiful fall weather.





My finished product

New firsts, fun day, happy fall!

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks the one year anniversary of my first ever blog post! One year and I am still going strong. My trusty blog has been such a nice way to keep friends and family in 'the know', especially since I have moved away. Not to mention that sometimes it's just nice to write down thoughts or document a new adventure. In a year my blog and I have run many races, designed and re-designed our look, graduated from college, and journeyed to a new state which along with brought many new and fun things to write about. We have definitely had our ups and downs. During the last semester of school the blog felt a little neglected, however I think it's safe to say the neglect period is over and I am officially a blogging junkie.

Even more than writing about myself, I love reading other people's blogs and the day to day excitement therein. So, keep on blogging and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to me and my blog! (I should probably buy myself something nice...)

About me

My friend Lindsay had this on her blog and I thought it was really cool. I want everyone to do it so I can read all about you! I will be checking...

I am... a woman, and happy to be one!
I miss... the mountains.
I think... I know everything.
I know... that I actually don’t know everything.
I want... to be successful in every aspect.
I have... more than I could ask for.
I search... for answers to impossible questions.
I wish... everyone could live peaceably together.
I hate... trying on clothes.
I am... tired. I work a lot this time of year.
I fear... never reaching my potential.
I always... lock my door behind me.
I love... to laugh and laugh and laugh.
I feel... sympathy for the thousands of people who have lost their jobs.
I hear... the trees blowing in the wind.
I smell... awful when I get home from a run.
I don't... like to ask for help.
I wonder... where I will be in ten years.
I care... when people aren’t treated equal.
I regret... Not letting Ashley know how much I loved her.
I am... a perfectionist.
I believe... with enough faith we can overcome anything.
I dance... to my own beat.
I sing... really loud when I think no one can hear.
I write... so I will remember.
I win... at FRIENDS Scene It 98.6% of the time.
I lose... my favorite pen about once a week.
I never... listen to people who tell me I can’t.
I listen... when a friend needs to talk.
I can... because I think I can.

Living In A Cloud

The other morning I woke up and looked outside. This is what I saw:

No, it wasn't cold... it was about 60 degrees.
No, it wasn't raining the ground was as dry as can be.
This is what the weatherman called 'dense fog' and I have never seen anything like it in my life! Sure, we had fog in Utah, but this wasn't just foggy. It was so dense that I almost felt like I was actually living in a cloud! It only took a few hours to burn off and then it was a beautiful day. Take a look at my before and after pictures.

This was from my front porch, before:

From my front porch, after:


From my office window, before:

From my office window, after:

I wonder if the fog is a preview for winter? hmmm...

Since I was out taking pictures I thought I would snap one of my neighbors yard, isn't it gorgeous?

"My Heart Will Go On..."

Tonight was my lucky night! A friend of mine got Celine Dion tickets, in a party suite, and invited me to go along.

Celine is AAaawwwESOME! Her show is so incredibly amazing and entertaining. I didn't realize I would love her show so much, but everything - even down to her jewelry with wardrobe changes - were fabulous.

As I was enjoying the concert I realized something very important. I think if Celine and I knew each other we would be great friends! Aside from her being amazingly talented and six feet tall we are almost the same! I think this for the following reasons:
- She made a bird noise on stage. I also make bird noises!
- She changed her clothes 6 times during the show, I also like changing my clothes!
- She has AWESOME shoes! I also like shoes.
- She dances really well. I dance, but not well.
- She has a microphone stand studded in diamonds. If I had a microphone stand, it would most definitely be covered in diamonds!
- She fist pumps at the end of a log note - hilarious!
- She sang a song in French, if I was a man I would have fallen in love right there.

Apparently when you are sitting in a suite at the Rose Garden they don't allow flash photography or video cameras. Ok, first of all... weird. Second of all... anyone who knows me knows that being without my camera makes me extremely anxious. ESPECIALLY when I am at a Celine Dion Concert! Needless to say, I didn't get any pictures on my camera, but here are a couple from my phone.


If you ever get a chance, definitely see her show!

Happy Birthday Shannon!

Today marks the day of Shannon's 26th year of life! Shannon and I have been friends for 22 years and along with that have come many exciting adventures and a friend who has become a sister. Thanks for being such a great friend Shannon and happy birthday!!

Just for good times sake, here is a list of notable and incredibly awesome things that Shannon and I have done together...
- At age 7 or 8 we sold all the junk food in my mom's pantry to the neighbor kids to eat while they watched a movie at my parents house - which we charged them for. (Movie theater genius')
- We made the neighbor kid who so badly wanted to be our friend act as our butler and driver. He really made us food, but he drove a couch that we sat in the back of.
- In 4th grade we bought ALL the same school clothes, cause we were just that cool!
- In high school we drove Shannon's car to Provo with the emergency break on chasing a car full of girls - cause they threw flavored water at as.
- In college we hid our roommate Angela's Nintendo game cause we were sick of her playing it (Sorry Ang!).
- In college we used to throw shoes at our door to get our roommates to be quiet. We had a room by the kitchen for heaven sakes!
- In college we corrupted our sweet roommates by asking them to be hookers for Halloween with us.
- We know that I can take Shannon down in a wrestling match, but she wins when we are boxing... only cause she has long arms.
- We braided extensions into our hair one summer making it look like we had just got back from an exotic vacation.

Seriously, the list goes on and on. Happy Birthday Shannon!

I typically don't do happy birthday postings... so for anyone who I haven't done up to now, please don't be offended :)

Tagged

My friend Lacey tagged me in a really cute way. What you do is open your pictures folder and post the 4th picture in your 4th folder, then give a brief description of the picture and tag a few more friends.

This is mine:


Bryce is going to kill me for posting this picture, but rules are rules! This picture is from a trip to Vegas that we took in 2006. We were at the buffet in The Rio where we ate incredible amounts of yummy food... that's cheesecake on the fork. It's funny to look at this picture from 2 years ago and see how much different we look now!

I tag... Shannon, Erica and Ashley D.

Um, hello Gumby

Is that Gumby? Yes, yes it is! And who is dressed in that Gumby suit you ask... that would be Bryce. All his life (or at least the last 2 years) he has wanted to buy a Gumby suit for Halloween. Well last year he regretfully didn't do it, so this was the year! Isn't it funny, I seriously love it! I said to him, "That will be a fun costume... you can wear it every Halloween!" He said, "Costume? Halloween? I am wearing this thing 3 times a week!" Too funny!

In other news, I elected today as the day I would finally start getting my house ready for Halloween. It really doesn't take much, I don't have a ton of holiday decorations yet. But to my wondering eyes should appear today... of course a package from Pat enclosed with Halloween decorations! Whoo hoo! Here is a picture of the cute pumpkin pillow (that she made) and new dishcloths that she sent. Thanks, Pat!

Have I mentioned I love this time of year?!

Problem, what problem?

Think of it as more of a recycling opportunity.
I don't like to be forced or pressured into recycling. However, since I am being charged for the cost of disposing of these cans I figured I may as well save them up and turn them into a little profit. It's amazing how quickly they pile up. I won't tell you how long I have been at my new little endeavor, but let's just say maybe it is time to cut back!

Finally, Someone Said It

I don’t call myself a Republican or a Democrat. I hate the idea of making an election about political parties rather than what is best for the country. I try to keep myself informed on politics, the economy and the crises that America faces. I am what the media refers to as an “undecided voter”.

As I watched the Presidential debate last week I was very frustrated at the finger pointing and answer dodging. I took absolutely nothing from that debate except that both candidates seemed angry, neither had any idea what to do about the economic crisis (granted they couldn’t say what they were really thinking as it would probably be held against them at a later time – which is a different discussion all together) and that they don’t agree on the war and foreign policy – I already knew that. Needless to say, the Presidential debate did not help me decide which ticket I would back.

Tonight as I watched the Vice Presidential debate I felt like it had a very different attitude. Many people expected Sarah Palin to fall on her face – she didn’t. Many people expected Joe Biden to talk over American’s heads – he didn’t. They had a debate a real debate where they took a stance and stated their opinion (some of which they may pay for later). Sarah Palin is a fabulous public speaker, I was impressed by her. She seemed at ease and answered questions with what experience she has. I would have liked however, to hear more g’s at the end of her words, i.e workin’ or doin’.

There was one answer that Sarah Palin gave that I was particularly impressed with. One paragraph that I would like to put on a poster and make every Presidential candidate read before the ever answer another question.

(Senator Biden is talking about what a failure the Bush administration is)
Mediator: Has this administration's policy been an abject failure, as the senator says, Governor?

Palin: “No, in fact, when we talk about the Bush administration, there's a time, too, when Americans are going to say, "Enough is enough with your ticket," on constantly looking backwards, and pointing fingers, and doing the blame game. There have been huge blunders in the war. There have been huge blunders throughout this administration, as there are with every administration. But for a ticket that wants to talk about change and looking into the future, there's just too much finger-pointing backwards to ever make us believe that that's where you're going. Positive change is coming, though. Reform of government is coming. We'll learn from the past mistakes in this administration and other administrations. And we're going to forge ahead with putting government back on the side of the people and making sure that our country comes first, putting obsessive partisanship aside.”

That is exactly what someone needed to say to these parties. I am not saying that the Bush administration wasn't a failure, but stop beating the dead horse with a stick (or whatever the saying is). Stop focusing on what has failed, stop telling me whose fault it is, stop blaming each other for the state that we are in now and start telling us how YOU can fix it. You have 32 days.