happy halloween!

halloween is one of my favorite holidays. maybe because it marks the beginning of the holiday season. or maybe it's the pumpkin carving and pumpkin flavored treats. all the kids dressed up as their fascination of the moment, going door to door, giddy with anticipation of the loot they will get. i think it's a combination of all of the above.
so tonight, my sister got her kids all dressed up in their costumes and we tried to sneak a few pictures before they started their trick-or-treating time. it's a much more difficult task than it sounds, as the kids were just crawling out of their skin to run up to the first house. the last thing they wanted to do was pose nice and still for a picture...or 10.
finally, the time had come, and they left on their way. i was left at the house to be the designated candy-giver-outer, a job i love. it gives me a chance to sit in the front room, with candles lit, a blanket, a hot chocolate, and watch all the little kids come up and get candy. man are those kids adorable! and boy there sure are a lot of them! my sister lives in kaysville. a cute town full of families with young children. so all night, for about 3 hours straight, the doorbell kept going off. here is a picutre of the candy bowl before the madness...
and here is a picture of the end result...
amazing. in california, we lived in an area that was lucky to get 3 trick-or-treaters all night. so this is super fun for me.
the kids with all their loot...
i hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween. and LET THE HOLIDAY SEASON BEGIN!

addendum:we had a few stragglers after i posted this blog and the cauldron ended up getting emptied completely!

body worlds...and new hair

so i have been wanting to see body worlds for so long. i wanted to see it in LA when i lived in california. i even went to vegas to try and see it this summer. my luck, it was "in between" hotels and wasn't open. so when it came to salt lake, i was super stoked.
the other night, steve and i, along with my awesome sister, went to see the exhibit downtown. man, oh man, was it amazing! the human body is so extraordinary. i work with the human body everyday at work, but seeing the outside, is so different than seeing the inside. when you think of all the organs, vessels, tissues, bones, that make the human body do the simplest of things, it just amazes me. i feel so lucky to know what i know about the human body, and to get to work with it everyday. i also feel so blessed for my own body. it's human nature to criticize ourselves...i mean, who couldn't stand to lose a few pounds, or tone some muscle, right? but i am so thankful for the body i was given, and after seeing that exhibit, it just reminded me how amazing it is and how much i need to treasure it and take care of it.
and on that note, after the exhibit, we went to a yummy, and way too fattening dinner for that matter, at buca di beppo. sooo much food, but soooo yummy. side note, did you know buca di beppo translates to "joe's basement"? steve told me this and i was sure he was lying. but i asked the waiter, and sure enough...that's what it means!
oh yeah...and i got my hair changed for winter. it's dark. i usually have dark hair. i went blonde for summer. but i think i got really used to the blonde, and now the dark, i'm not so sure about. i'll give it some time to get used to it, but who knows...maybe blondes do have more fun.

halloween house

last night, steve and i went down to his brother's house to spend time with his niece, nephews, and mom. we had a great night of games and sweets, and fun with the kids. on our way home, we stopped by a house that is all decked out for halloween. it was super cool, and it reminded me of how much i LOVE the holidays. it's funny how much i like halloween, because growing up, my mom never really liked it and so she didn't really celebrate it all that much. but since i've been an adult, i just love it! anyway, here are some pictures of the decorations from the halloween house...enjoy!


i'm not sure i will ever love halloween so much that i will decorate as much as these people did, but i sure enjoy seeing it. HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

date night

what an awesome night! i had such a great afternoon/evening with my awesome man, and just had to share it. after sleeping most of the day since i worked last night, i woke up and had a date with steve. it was so much fun to just spend time with him and enjoy a beautiful evening. us ladies loooove to get pampered. massages, mani/pedis, facials. but i think we forget, that men like those things just as much as we do.

soooo, to start out our date, steve and i went and got mani/pedis. we spent an hour in those fabulous massage chairs and got pampered like crazy. it was awesome. then we headed over to nordstrom rack and got steve some nice church clothes. he's going to look quite handsome next sunday if i do say so myself.

here is the aftermath of the pedicures. notice the festive colors steve chose.

then we did one of my favorite things and got hot chocolate and looked around in barnes and noble. it's such a perfect activity for a cool fall evening. and what date would be complete without a fabulous dinner. we went to stoneground and had a fabulous meal while watching game 1 of the world series. we practically had to roll ourselves out to the car because we were so stuffed! but it was sure yummy.
i know it wasn't some spectacular night of unusual events, but spending it with my "fiance" made it so special. i treasure nights like this and i have to thank him for being who he is and putting up with me. because, let's face it folks, i'm not the easiest to deal with all the time.

octoberfest

what a wonderful past few days! a little recap...

• A NEW PHONE! i have had the same phone, which i have totally loved, for the past few years. as much as i hated to admit it, it was getting a bit archaic and it was time for an upgrade. so i headed down to the sprint store and got myself, what i think, is a pretty fancy phone. i'm still getting used to it and all the features. for the first time in my life, i feel like an "old" person because i don't know how to use my phone and it takes me 10 minutes to send a text message. but nontheless, i am loving it. it's super sleek, and will no doubt be outdated in a year, or less.


• A NEW CAR! i wasn't one of those kids who got a new, or any car for that matter, when i turned 16. i always have shared cars, or had used ones. my PT cruiser was absolutely adorable (at least i thought so) and i loved it for the last 3 years. but let's face it folks, it's by no means an "all season" car. and that's what i need now that i'm living in a 4 season environment. it held up pretty well last winter, (only spinning out on me a few times) though i didn't even attempt to take it up the canyons. betty zip, as i liked to call her, was getting to the point where she needed some tune ups, and some pretty pricey ones at that. i started thinking if it was really worth putting all that money into a car i probably couldn't keep that much longer. so....i opted to put that money into a new car. living in utah, i figured i would join the club and get myself a nice subaru. i am the proud owner of a new 2009 outback! i am super in love with it. i love everything about it, especially that it's safe and that it will handle the winter well. here are a couple pics of the new beauty. now i just need a name for it...


• HUNTING! that's right. you heard me, hunting, for deer. well, not so much me in camo, with a shotgun, but me riding along in the backseat while steve, his brother, and 2 of his nephews went hunting. what an adventure! beautiful scenery, and some major off roading. it is so pretty up there and marley had a blast with all the new smells in the great outdoors. i've attached a few pictures of that trip. we saw plenty of deer, but they were all doe's, and the boys only have buck tags, so no luck there. the season isn't quite over yet, so hopefully they will get a few more chances to claim their prize. but i don't think i will be going along for the ride next time.

so that's about it for me. other than that i have just been working and LOVING fall in my time off. i'm a little sad that my red sox came to an end of their season, but at least they claimed the division series, and there's always next year for the rest of the shebang.

no more birthday surprise

steve's birthday is coming up next month and i wanted to get him something i knew he would like. he's been wanting a softshell jacket for the winter and he found one at rei that he really liked. but i knew he wouldn't spend the money on himself, so that's what i decided to get him. i bought it and was SO excited to give it to him on his birthday. he's a really hard one to keep surprises because he's always guessing his gifts and it drives me nuts! so i was trying so hard to keep this under wraps and have it be an awesome surprise for him.
but the other day, when we were out shopping, it was so stinkin cold, he found a jacket he really liked at another store and said "okay, i think i'm going to buy it". what?! i did all i could to deter him from buying it, but nooooo. so i had to tell him his birthday surprise. i felt so bad...not as bad as he did though. he knew how excited i was to give him his birthday present and how disappointed i was to have to tell him the surprise early.
at the end of the day though, he got an awesome jacket that will keep him super warm this winter in all the snow, and up on the slopes. and he looks pretty handsome in it to boot!
but now, i need new ideas for an awesome birthday surprise. help!

L-O-V-E

last night was possibly the best night of my life. why you ask? well, i got to spend it out with my sweetie, just him and me. i love those times. times when we don't have a million things to get done, or work to be at, and we can just do whatever we want, or nothing at all.
we have a favorite look out place in bountiful. you have to do a little "off roading" to get there, which only adds to the fun. the sunsets have been so gorgeous lately, we decided to go up there to watch the sunset. well yesterday was a bit chilly and the sky was more full of clouds than sunset, but it was still gorgeous.
as we were sitting there, in the bed of his truck, trying to keep each other warm, steve knelt down in front of me to block the wind. i just kept thinking, how chivalrous of him to try and keep me warm. he told me how much he loved me and how happy i made him. all of which i thought was really really sweet. but then he just kept saying it over and over again, and kind of started pacing around the truck, knealing down, then standing up and sitting next to me, then keanling down again. i kind of started wondering what was up with him. he just seemed nervous. "but maybe it's the cold" i thought. but it wasn't...finally, he simply ASKED ME TO MARRY HIM! holy crap. i was like "WHAT??! ARE YOU SERIOUS???" he said yes, and then pulled out the little blue box. my heart melted, and i started crying. that kid is seriously the best. and he makes me so happy. i am so excited that we get to be married and spend eternity together. i couldn't ask for a better partner to go through life with. here are a few pictures from the night. enjoy!

so i know you can't really see the ring. it's a thin band with a single diamond in the middle. perfect for me and my work. i absolutely LOVE IT! i should have done my nails though.

welcome fall!

i can't tell you how glad i am fall is here. i have been looking forward to it for awhile now, and it's nice to say it's officially "here". sadly, it's almost gone, with winter fast approaching. fall has hugely surpassed any other season as "my favorite". there is just something about it that is invigorating, and just plain old lovely. maybe i appreciate it more now, living in a place with 4 distinct seasons. whatever the reason, I LOVE IT!
here are a few things i love about fall and look forward to this season...
-changing leaves. the reds, oranges, greens, yellows.
-crispness in the air.
-pumpkin bread, candles, carving, and pumpkins in general!
-decorating with all the fall colors.
-wearing scarves, jackets, and sweaters. my fall clothes are so much cuter than summer clothes.
-hot drinks on cold nights
-nights by the fireplace, candles burning, and a cozy blanket.
-all my favorite shows back on the air.
-going on walks at dusk.
-baking pies, and big feasts, spending time with family. fall is the start of the HOLIDAY SEASON!
HAPPY FALL EVERYONE!

going for the kill

HAPPY ELK HUNTING!!!

for those of you like me, you have no idea when hunting season is or what it's all about. but in the last few months, i have come to learn so much about this thing they call hunting. steve is an avid hunter, and he looks forward to hunting season all year. this year, he's hunting elk. going for the big stuff. he's gotten his tags, packed all his guns and camo gear, and is hitting the road for 2 weeks up in the mountains. he would love nothing more than to come home with a huge elk (and then have to buy a freezer to keep it in, but we'll worry about that later). it may not be my scene, but i love him, and thus, i love hunting. and i hope he gets a big one.

so here's to you babe. good luck out there. and i hope you get a good one!