lil pumpkin

happy halloween!

i feel so lucky to be teacher and have my own students to spoil (someday it will be my kids). today i handed out the cutest hershey hugs/candy corn/pretzel cookies (via pinterest which i LOVE) and it was so fun. while i am not a fan of the scary aspect of this holiday (we spent an HOUR this weekend in the video store to check out a movie and left empty-handed...not for a lack of choice by anson....i am just TOO CHICKEN) i definitely love the trick-or-treaters, the costumes, the CANDY and the fallness of the holiday. mmm...oh and all the pumpkin food! ANYWAYS....here's how bear should have looked this year, but we are lame and never got around to buying it....
there's always next year.

since my sister got home from her mission in August...

i decided to finally catch up. here's a bunch of pictures, in no real order, of my trip to utah TO SEE MY SISTER/BEST FRIEND/COMRADE IN CHILDHOOD AND ADULT CRIME/COMPANION FOODIE/GIGGLER EXTRAORDINAIRE/ETC.... come home from a wonderful mission in Auckland, New Zealand. The whole family minus me and Anson are going back there for Thanksgiving this year (sigh) to see the sights. Those who didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on a plane ticket (me and anson) will be left at home. luckily, we have the invite from one of my favorite cousins for a yummy thanksgiving dinner to ease our woes. anyways, i am so proud of my sister who i know was such a wonderful, selfless, kind, AMAZING missionary. and i'm SO HAPPY she's home! look at the picture above and you'll see us handcrafting the beautiful sign for her homecoming (we did it mom!!)

like i said, no real order here. BEFORE my sis came home - ans and i went to san antonio (best big city in texas by far!) to pick up his new whip (A CAMARO!!). we decided to make a trip of it, stayed on the riverwalk for a night and had the most delicious meal at boudro's, then got the car and hit up schlitterbahn (best. waterpark. ever.) the next day. ahhh....


i reconnected with one of my high school bff's that i hadn't seen in years. ridiculous i tell you! ridiculous! we loved catching up and getting some kneader's heavenly french toast. mmm...
michelle gave THE MOST amazing talk for her homecoming about all of her experiences. she has learned so much and is such a great example to me!
the sign in action. SHE IS HOME!!!!!!! you could tell the people really loved her because she had about a million laes on - some made of candy, some made from shells, and others homemade as decorative jewelry. it was so pretty! she was also so cute - after being on a flight for 19 hours she was a little tired/slap happy. i loved hearing her stories, listening to all the new words she used like rubbish, flat, etc... (LOVED that - most of them were British inspired!), got a little scared when i was the first person to ride in the car with her (she drove solely on the left side of the road for 1 1/2 years!). got even more scared when i had to correct us from driving in the left side over and over, had a blast shopping and listening to her views on life. michelle was great before but she has such a new love for life and other people. she's also about 1.3049586 times more assertive than she was before and i LOVE it.
and then there was the time that i wanted to hike the Centerville Waterfall, but it started getting dark, and only Trev and Erika wanted to come. all well. nice view anyways.
erika and i took pictures.....
and we took silly pictures....
and i took michelle back to byu to start school. we went to her classes, moved her in, and of course - got ice cream at the creamery...yum.
and i took another picture of the hike minus waterfall.

bonus of visiting for longer than 4 days?? you get to not only hang out with your family everyday but you get to see you bff MULTIPLE times. so so nice. thanks abbie for making the trip from logan up to centerville so we could hang out and just live like old times again. and can we just say that maggie keeps getting more and more adorable? yes. yes we can.

me and the sis at another and more successful (as in we actually went the whole way and the event was planned) hike - mount timpanogos. WOW - the mountains were gorgeous, the conversation was delightful, the pictures were actually likeable. success! ps - i can't help but state how alike we look in this picture. it's unreal, right?


moe and i FINALLY caught up again over a delicious lunch in provo at my all-time fave italian place - la dolce vita. haven't heard of it? that's ok - just remedy that now and go eat it! it's delish. and moe is one of my favorites...LOVE you.

finally - last but not least - the car itself and the amazingly proud owner. i mean look at that face! i took this the minute after we exchanged paperwork for the car and got the keys. it's so cute. that boy could not even begin to contain himself. i'm so happy he finally bought something for himself that he loves so he doesn't have to drip sweat (try driving a jeep with no a/c all summer during 100+ weather) through his nicely collared shirts. and i'm glad he took my recommendation for what car to get - pretty sweet.

most important thing of today

a RANGERS victory!!! go rangers! 2nd times the charm! get those st louis cards!
(and whatever other nonsense it takes for the rangers to WIN IT ALL)



i love this time of year

the way you lie...

ok, so i had to title this SOMETHING other than their most famous song (if i die young) to peak your interest. ANYWAYS, yes, this concert was in august but clearly i am behind and really, this was THE. BEST. CONCERT. I. HAVE. EVER. BEEN. TO. For real. I would be missing something musically profound if i didn't mention it. So I loved The Band Perry before, but after i was IN love. Even Anson, who has been subjected to their music many times, was found listening to it ON HIS OWN ACCORD after the concert. And yes, he does sing along :)

soooo many things to love. first of all, how could you not like a family (and family friendly might I add - they didn't swear at all) band made up of 2 brothers and a sister? Also an amazingly SPUNKY sister who if I were a singer, I would emulate in every single way. The entire night she was cracking jokes, using the best facial expressions and singing from her soul. There is something magical about a singer who is not 'over themselves' and is still genuine in their performances. there were definitely moments where i literally sighed out loud (anson might have made fun of me) because it was so beautiful, so heartfelt and so utterly raw that i almost felt embarrassed to be listening. almost like it was something so personal that you felt like you walked in on something you shouldn't have. and I LOVED IT! she was by far the most entertaining person (both in a fun and artistic way) I've seen live in a long time. and her brothers were adorable. what was even better? anson got the tickets. anson found the concert. and anson surprised me with a priceless night. LOVED it.

I am a Mormon and I am a Christian.

Due to recent events (interview of Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas), religion has weighed heavily on my mind. Perhaps this has particularly bothered me because as someone who lives in the Dallas Metroplex, I have friends who go to his church and listen to his ignorant opinions. First of all, let me clarify by saying that I believe all people are entitled to their own beliefs - that is NOT the issue. Everyone should feel comfortable making and stating their own opinions but they should treat them as that - OPINIONS - not FACT. I don't necessarily believe that what Jeffress said was stated as fact (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt), BUT because of his influence in the religious community, his comments will be taken as such. Which is HIGHLY unfortunate, because it is clear from his words that he is UNINFORMED. It is my belief that when someone is an influential leader, they must make every effort to make INTELLIGENT and INFORMED opinions. This is what we expect of our political leaders. Shouldn't we also expect this from our religious leaders (those set apart to represent CHRIST and His attitudes/actions) as well?

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon Church), I am deeply offended by his remarks. Sure, this type of thing has happened before. I know I've been told people think we're a cult (for the record, we are NOT), we have more than one wife (we DON'T - pretty sure that would never fly with me and Anson), etc...etc... Most of these people will openly admit they don't know anything about Mormonism. And that's fine - I don't know everything about Catholicism or Protestanism. I don't pretend to. BUT I do appreciate others' questions and that they came straight to the source for answers (which is what I wish Jeffress would have done). Had Jeffress done this he would not have missed the crux of our beliefs - that we BELIEVE IN and KNOW that JESUS CHRIST IS OUR SAVIOR. He said we weren't Christian. I am here to tell you that according to Websters Dictionary which defines Christian as "one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ" I AM A CHRISTIAN. Jesus Christ is in our official church name - The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints - (which by the way, is NOT in Pastor Jeffress' church name...interesting), He is in what we teach every Sunday in all of our services, He is in our homes via pictures, scriptures, etc... and most importantly, He is in our hearts and actions. I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST. I know He loves each of us deeply. He is the cornerstone of our beliefs. He is my Savior, my brother and my friend. I strive everyday to follow His teachings and His example. I have pictures of Him in every room of my house. I love Him and am forever in debt to Him. I AM A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST.

I am not easily offended but I will not stand for blind intolerance and bigotry. PLEASE learn before you speak. If you would like to learn more about what Mormons really believe please check out www.mormon.org . This site lists all of our beliefs and should answer your questions. If not, ask a Mormon. Ask me. I will be happy to help. Just be informed.

And because I am not quite so eloquent, I've also included the words of one of our leaders - Jeffrey R. Holland via the video above.

one year older and wiser too

happy birthday to this guy....

note: no, we did not have a baby...thanks abbie for the adorable loaner :)

what would i do without you?? probably work a lot more, be completely unhappy, dogless, unmarried, etc...in other words - LOST! but in all seriousness, you are the man of my dreams, the one who never fails to make me smile, the one who inspires (and lets) me follow my life ambitions, encourages me all along the way (i WILL get a teaching job!), lets me be goofy, joins me in my goofiness, shares my passions and fakes passion in the ones you don't, makes me a better person, shares my beliefs, is so willing to change, caters to my crazy side, spoils me rotten, my number one adventure partner, the one person i'd always rather be with over anyone and anything else. i love you baby. thanks for all you do for me. happy birthday!!!

i'll admit it.

i am in love with my job.

when i graduated from school at BYU, i decided to only major in english because for some reason, i always had a strange aversion to teaching. perhaps i just thought i didn't have the patience to deal with kids. i was already prone to sickness and would be constantly ill. i wasn't creative enough. (let's face it- teachers are crafty). etc. etc. etc. i thought i'd try the insurance biz instead. first of all - what was i thinking?????? those two are not even close to related. i think the major draw to that job was that it was in texas, and we all know i was desperately trying to get back. so check - i was back. BUT i didn't like sales. and insurance is sales.



so i rethought my life plan and decided to go back and get certified to teach. BEST DECISION EVER. since we were out of town for various reasons (aka sister is HOME and ashley - anson's sister - is MARRIED) which i'll still write about later, school just started for me last monday. i am in love. my kids are so adorable. i'm still doing vmath but just one class and now i get to do READING. i actually get to sit and talk about books all day. it's absolutely perfect. being a teacher is 10.5 million times more fulfilling than selling an insurance policy. i love watching them grow and learn becoming smarter than they were the day before. i'm so happy to be a teacher.