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!