Carving Pumpkins

For Chad and I this is our third Halloween together, and yet we have never ever carved pumpkins together! Insane, I know. To fix this problem we carved a pumpkin together last night. We had so much fun! Even Weechee enjoyed playing in the pumpkin guts; she tried eating them but apparently didn't like the taste (sorry Mom, I was hoping to have a cat like yours). We even sorted through the guts to get the seeds and made pumpkin seed snacks. Yummy!

Chad was the lucky one to de-gut the pumpkin. Right after the picture was taken Weechee jumped down from the windowsill and attacked the pumpkin guts in Chad's hand. Lol.

Carving the face.

Our first pumpkin. :)

Weechee investigating.

Us with our glowing pumpkin.

Almost 23!

My 23rd birthday is tomorrow, but because both Chad and I are working that evening we decided to celebrate my birthday yesterday. We opened presents (Chad did a very good job picking them out) which included a $60 dollar gift card to Famous Footwear to buy some shoes that I have been wanting, "Chad coupons," a $25 gift certificate to get a pedicure (so excited!), and the Children's Songbook on cd. Chad also made me a delicious dinner and cake. For dinner we had steak, creamy mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and sparkling red grape juice. So yummy! Chad even did the dishes after we were done so I didn't have to do anything. :) Chad made the cake all by himself and it was pretty good... it was even decorated for a girl! In talking to Chad later I discovered that he had wanted to decorate it with cars and racetracks but decided not to because it was my cake and not his. Lol.

I just noticed that there are only 12 candles in the picture... is Chad trying to tell me there are already too many candles to put on my cake?! I'm not that old. ;)

Chad and I were crazy enough to go to the Haunted Forest that is in American Fork a few nights ago. We actually went through both Psycho Manor and the Haunted Forest. Having never been to anything like this before I had no idea what to expect. Let me share a bit of my experience with you...

Psycho Manor was freaky just because it was inside a building and you felt like there was no escape. There was some crazy lady who I thought was tied to a chair... apparently not. As I walked past her I felt something behind me and when I turned around she was literally in my face. Holy cow. I about peed my pants. Some parts of Psycho Manor were completely dark so you had to feel your way around which got scary, especially when you touched something that moved. The worst part was at the end where there was this giant balloon, blow-up thing leading to the only way out. The air pressure made the sides press against you and it felt like you were being sent through a clothes wringer...

...except that the two metal rollers stand upright rather than lay on their side. Definitely not cool for claustrophobic people.

Then there was the Haunted Forest. This was my favorite of the two although I think it scared me more than Psycho Manor. Pretty much everyone knows that there are guys with chainsaws in there. Knowing that you would think you wouldn't get scared of them. However, when you don't see them and suddenly you hear someone breathing behind you and then hear a chainsaw start, the first thing you don't want to see when you turn around is the chainsaw directly in your face. That kinda freaked me out and so I turned around and started walking really fast which the crazy guy did too. So I started to run and then a creepy guy with a lawn mower started to chase me. Yeah, not cool guys.

There were two other really scary parts: 1) The caves - there were probably 3-4 caves throughout the Haunted Forest. The reason I thought they were so scary was because there was no way out, you were closed in. Not that there was any way out when you were walking around the forest, but at least I could have tried to fly up if things got too scary. :) and 2) Not knowing when it would end. The forest went on and on and on so you had no idea how much longer you had to be scared out of your mind.

Aside from the scary moments and the insanely huge amounts of adrenaline that were pumping through our bodies, Chad and I had a lot of fun. Will we ever go again... maybe, but only if it is daylight outside. ;)

Proof that we weren't too traumatized... our "scary" faces.

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!

October has to be the most amazing month for birthdays - not that I have a strong opinion on that or anything. :) Chad's brother Brian and his mom had a birthday about a week and a half ago. Since Brian turned 16 we put together an "Emergency Dating Kit" full of everything you might need at the last minute... Altoids, chapstick, lotion, etc. For his mom, all of the children took her to dinner at the Melting Pot in Salt Lake.


It was everyone's first time except for Chad and me. We all had a great time and everyone seemed to enjoy the food.

I just have to comment on the food for a minute. One of the cheese fondues we tried was spinach, artichoke heart, and garlic. Oh. My. Goodness. It was so amazing! I have never enjoyed cheese so much in my life! Also, I have been on the beef kick (I love anything steak-y) and so the entrees were amazing; I seriously couldn't eat enough of the beef. Lol.

By the way, my birthday is next week and guess what I want for dinner... steak!

Provo Canyon and Sundance

Chad and I went for a drive up Provo Canyon and past Sundance last weekend just to see how pretty everything was. It was a little late to see the leaves changing colors (many of the trees had already changed and/or had lost their leaves), but it was still fun. Enjoy the pictures.

Our Children Stand no Chance

I found this website called www.makemebabies.com where you can upload pictures and see what your future children will look like. Curious, I uploaded a picture of me and one of Chad. These were the results:


Apparently Chad and I are going to have the ugliest children ever imaginable. All I can say is please lie when you see them and I ask you, "Aren't they they cutest kids ever!?" Faces only a mother could love...

Jesseca's Dress

Saturday I went with my mom, Jesseca, and Jesseca's friend Amanda to look for Jesseca's wedding dress. I swear, it took all day. We ended up winning the battle and found the perfect dress for her! It is so gorgeous and looks amazing on her.

Here's the dress. It is covered in lace (I've decided that I think lace is beautiful on a wedding dress, I just don't think I would wear it myself) and has a semi-cathedral train. There is a bow that goes around the waist. In this picture the bow is in the back, but Jesseca thinks she is going to put the bow in the front and to the side and make it a little smaller. GORGEOUS!

Finally done! (well, almost...)

I finally turned in my student teaching application this week! Due to a bunch of problems it was turned in almost three weeks late (for a bit there I wasn't sure I was going to be able to turn it in). But it's done and I'm really excited. :) Now I just have to wait to find out what district I will be student teaching in; they said because I was in Wasatch for cohorts I would be closer which will be really nice. I should find out in about three weeks what district I'm in and then it is up to the district to tell me what school and grade it will be. I could find out right away or it could be the day before I show up.

Anyway, I'm super excited and can't wait! Plus, I'll get to graduate in April. Yay for almost being a real teacher and for seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

Happiness

I'm happy and content and it feels great! I'm not exactly sure why I'm so happy... maybe it's because it is October or maybe it's because it is Fall. I love the month of October because it's the start of the holiday season. Halloween is always fun, then there's Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. Fall is probably my favorite season overall. I love the crispness of the air, I love seeing my breath but not freezing, I love being able to wear flip flops and a light jacket, I love seeing the leaves change colors and fall. *sigh* It's not too hot and not too cold. I just love it!

Or maybe I'm happy because General Conference was so amazing this past weekend. Chad and I were lucky enough to actually be able to attend General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake. I've never done that before.

We went to the Saturday afternoon session and ended up sitting on the main floor directly in front of the pulpit about halfway back. It was a great view! One of the coolest moments had to be when the First Presidency walked in. Beforehand everyone was talking and doing their own thing, but the moment they walked in it became dead silent. You could have heard a pin drop. It was awesome to be there and be that close to the Prophet. The spirit was amazing.


I feel so blessed to live in a time when we have a Prophet and get to hear the Lord's council on a consistent basis. Listening to Conference made me feel so blessed for all that I have... my wonderful husband who loves me unconditionally and always tells me that I am beautiful, my husband's and my family and their love, a nice place to live, the opportunity for both of us to be able to get a good education, enough money to cover our needs and some of our wants, time to spend with each other, a beautiful country to live in, good jobs, the Gospel, the ability to pray to Heavenly Father, knowledge that God knows the big picture... my list could go on and on.

Yay for being so happy!