Halloween

I know I know it is about time right?

I have been meaning to post this for a little while now but life happens.

So Jeff and I starting thinking about Halloween early this year because we wanted to be something different. We are not the most creative people but I think that our costumes turned out all right.

We went back and forth between many different options like:

• The pong game on Atari (My personal fave)
• Ketchup and Mustard with Guido as a hot dog.
• Pauly D and Snooki (Burgers for the boys!!)
• Taylor Swift and Kanya West (Jeff had to work Halloween night so we could not paint him black)

We tried to be creative Jeff even came home with a bunch of different ideas some were funny some were just not for me and some were Jeffs kind of funny :)

In the end we decided on a funny one that was really cheap to make just how we like it :)

We decided to be...

You guessed it we were the

Girls Gone Wild Camera Crew and one of the girls.

I don't think others thought it was as funny as we did but o well it was fun.

On Friday night we went to Bert and Ambers and had a lot of fun. We carved pumpkins, ate yummy food, talked a lot and had some costume contests.

Danes costume cracked me up he used nail polish for his teeth. (Weird) and then the most creative thing I have ever seen he used fake spiderwebs to make his dreads.

This is a pic of the whole group minus a couple peeps that left before this.

We then went to Britt and Matts house on Halloween to hang out. We had so much fun we played a murder mystery game and of course I was the murderer and I had to wink at people to kill them lets just say I did not do a good job. It was a fun game though. We also took a whole bunch of pics but I only put a couple on here because there were just too many.

Overall we had a ton of fun this Halloween and we were so glad we got to spend it with friends and family. I love Halloween because of the feeling you get when everyone is dressing up and getting excited for it and because when it is done you get to start prepping yourself for Thanksgiving and Christmas o yeah and don't forget Black Friday!!

I totally went to Paris

I went with these crazy people and it was so much fun!!! We left on a Wednesday and came back Tuesday. We fly stand by so on the way there everyone got business class but me and so I was stuck next to a Rastafarian man in dreads that was watching inappropriate things on his laptop during the 9 hour flight and he for sure made me feel uncomfortable. It was all worth it though because we had so much fun together. I went with my mother in law and three of my sister in laws. We stayed in a Villa by Disneyland and it was so nice. It was like a town home we had three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a dining room, kitchen, laundry room and a back yard. It really was so nice and even though I really have no desire to go back because the people there are just so put out by Americans being there I am still so happy that I was able to go. We tried to do the whole frowning picture but obviously I can not do it and Nikki could not stop laughing to do it.Melissa was so good and it and the lady next her is a perfect picture of how the people of Paris looked at us. They did not like us that is for sure because we were loud everywhere we went and we actually smiled which they don't like to do I guess.We rode the subway everywhere and it was such a party. It was always us goofing off and my mother in law trying to figure out where we were going.The trip home was a little more interesting. I was able to fly business from Paris to Cincinnati which was awesome because they feed you a five course meal and the seats go back all the way so you get to lay down. When we got to Cincinnati we were not able to get on a flight there so we flew to Los Angeles and could not make a flight there so then we flew to Las Vegas. We thought we were going home from there and we were so ready and excited because we had been traveling for like 36 hours at this point and then when we went to get on the plane they would not let us on so we had to stay at the hooters hotel that night. We got to bed at 10:00 p.m. and then woke up at 4:00 a.m. to catch a 6:30 a.m. flight which of course only Kari made it and by this time we were so done. There was crying involved this time because we were so tired and just exhausted so we just decided to buy tickets to get home and I am so grateful we did. When I got to the airport Jeff was waiting by the bags with Guido and I was so excited to see them and then we I got home my house was clean and I found this little note waiting for me. I will be posting more of my pics later.

Baby Shower

This cute couple is going to be having a baby in a little while and I was so excited when I got the chance to throw them a baby shower. I am a virgin to the baby shower throwing so I was a little nervous that no one would have fun or court would be totally disappointed because after all she has been working hard to make this baby so she deserves a good party. I wanted to do a Jeep themed party because Court loves Jeeps but that is hard to do because I could not find anything so I finally just decided to do the colors green and blue and then add a little touch of Jeep where ever I could. This is the diaper cake that I made. They are a little harder then they look but it was so fun finally being able to make one because I have always wanted to make one. On a side note I bought 3 packages of newborn diapers and if I would of bought them without coupons then they would of cost $13.00 a piece but I used coupons and I was able to get them for $4.00 a piece. That was a steal of a deal and I was so excited about it.I went to Orson Gygi to see if I could find a Jeep cookie cutter but they just don't exist so instead I bought a pack of 101 cookie cutters and I am glad that I did because I just decided to use all of the boyish cutters. There were trains, firetrucks, dinosaurs, ducks, sports things and animals. I bought these vases and jars from the D.I. for $0.50 - $1.00 a piece. I was excited that they had so many different ones there and for such a great price.This is the finished product minis the chicken salad sandwiches, mini cheesecakes and the yummy drink that I made. I made those tissue baby decorations and they are not my favorite thing but they turned out decent.I found the idea for these cups on a blog and I thought it was so cute so I had to do it. They looked better in person then in pictures.My husband and Bert pretending to be a baby and mommy nursing. They are so cool!!
I love this picture they were trying to look like a happy couple with their baby but I think it turned out cute. This is baby Hadley and she belongs to Jake and Danica. She is the cutest thing I have ever seen and even though I let Amber think she is Hadleys favorite, Hadley and I really know whats up and we are BFF!!
Allen and Britt they will be married in less then a month. So excited for them!!

Jake and Dani. She looks so good and she just had a baby hopefully I get that lucky when it is my turn.

The party was a lot of fun and I am so happy that I was able to do it and that everything worked out the way it was planned.

My second race

This post is so late but I have a lot of catching up to do. I ran another race back in like August. It was a lot of fun and a little more official this time because I actually registered and I was a part of it this time. It was along the Jordan River parkway more in like South Jordan area I think :) It was really pretty and it was nice to have a trail and not just run on the street like my last race. I did pretty much the same time as last time (29 min) but this time I only stopped once and it was for maybe 6 seconds because this guy ran up behind me and said "you are almost there you cant stop now" so I just took off and beat him in the race hee hee. Jeff came straight from work and I brought Guido with me so they could cheer me on. It was a lot of fun and I am excited to do more races and I even have a love for running now and I never ever thought that would happen.

New Week New Meals!

So last week went pretty well with the meals, we really liked pretty much every meal we had. The Hoedown BBQ Chuckroast was a hit. It was so good and we had it with grilled corn that we added Cayenne pepper to and yum!! Jeff ate so much of that which is always an ego booster for me. The slow Cooker pizza was alright I would rather just make home made pizza it is faster and easier but it was a fun and different way of having pizza.

This week on the menu we have

Monday: Chicken Pasta

Tuesday: THRIVE Vegetable Risotto

Wednesday: Tender Grilled Pork Chops

Thursday: Serve yourself day

Friday: Skillet Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Saturday: Grilled Island Chicken

I got most of my recipes this week from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/

I still have so many more things to blog about so coming soon I have some pictures that Jeff and I took with Guido and some cute labels I made for my Sugar, Flour, etc.

This week for dinner

So I have seen a lot of blogs where people post what they are having for dinner in the beginning of the week. I am trying to be good at sticking to a dinner schedule so we do not eat out as much and so we do not go to the grocery store every other day. We did it for the last two weeks and we only ate out twice. We had to eat out once because we made turkey burgers and we are not sure what went wrong but they just kept falling apart and they were a mess so we went to barbacoa because we were kind of in a rush. That is pretty good for us because we have busy schedules so it is always easier to go and grab something. I tried 7 new and different recipes and ended up adding 5 of them to my recipe box which is always exciting. I planned our recipes in advance and bought everything I needed so I did not have to cross the path of the grocery store again. I obviously did not need to buy a lot because well if you are reading this then you probably know that I have a lot of food in my home at all times. Here is the list of recipes we tried and loved in the last two weeks so if you want the recipe for any of them then I will for sure give them to you.

The recipes I liked the most were:

Sloppy Joe Tacos

Lemony Pork Primavera Pasta

Roast Beef and Gravy

Adobo Pork Chops (These are healthy for you also which is a bonus)

Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken (the best meal for sure)

This week we are having:

Monday: Honey Soy Glazed Pork Chops (Thanks Mar!)

Tuesday: Balsamic-Glazed Steamed Fish

Wednesday: Breaded Garlic Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce

Thursday: Serve yourself day we wont be home at the same time

Friday: Hoedown BBQ Chuck Roast

Saturday: Slow Cooker Puffy Pizza Casserole (a little nervous about this one)

I will let you know how they all turn out and let me know if you have any good recipes that we can try.

Family Pictures

Jeffs family recently had family pictures done and here are just a few of my faves. They look a little weird on the blog for some reason but they really turned out great. I am excited to have an updated picture of everyone hanging in my house.The cute nieces. They were not hard to photograph like the boys below. We all stood behind the photographer and made loud noises and funny faces trying to get them to pay attention and they were not having it. I love it though because it is candid and not posed at all.
Jeff siblings and their spouses. He has three brothers and one sister. His sister is the second girl on the left and then the rest are his brothers. I love being apart of this family.

The whole fam!! I bet you can't guess how many time this took us. We did succeed though and I think the pic looks great.

Jeff and I.

Jeff and I later did pics with Guido and my family so I will be posting those pics real soon because they are cute also.

I LOVE KAYLEENE!!

So this is Jeff obviously, and i hacked into kayleenes blog so i could let everyone in world(or at least the handful of people who follow her blog) that i love her so much!!! She is the greatest wife ever!!! And everyone should know that so ya. Love ya hun!!

P.S. You can delete this if you want hun!!

Rock Climbing

So April took me Rock climbing this weekend. I have been once and that was five years ago on a little rock but this one was a little more intense. Rock climbing is rated on a scale of 5.1 being the easiest and 5.12 being the hardest and this one that we did is a 5.9. It was a lot of fun but there was no trail leading to the spot so we had to climb up some fallen rocks that was a little rough because sometimes you would step on a rock and it would roll down the hill to the person below you. We finally got to the spot and it was nice because it was in the shade. We got everything hooked up and first Aprils friend went below is a pic of her coming down and then April went. They both do this a lot so they made it to the top pretty quickly with no problems. Then it was my turn and I was kind of nervous. I got a little more then halfway and then came down because I could not get a good grip anywhere and it was taking way to long and I felt bad making them sit on the bottom waiting for me. Then we had to hike down the rocky mountain and that was hardest part because we were already tired and we tried a different way that was full of trees and the rocks. That was rough for sure. Overall it was a lot of fun and I am excited to go again. April and I had a little photo shoot waiting for her friend to get everything set up on the top.

April is intense!

Me, not so much!

There are no pictures of me going up the mountain because they are on aprils camera so this is all you get.

B-day and a New Ride!!

Jeff had a pretty good week, he got a new car and turned 24. Jeff has had his parents old car for a little while and even though we were so grateful for it we were glad to get rid of it. It did not have air conditioning and you had to open the trunk before you got in it or the alarm would go off. Jeff was such a good sport driving it to UVU every other day in 90 degree weather but we knew he could not do it for long. We started looking for new cars on KSL but for some reason we just could not commit to anything. We were nervous about having another payment and we did not want to buy a car that we would have to spend a ton of money fixing up. Well we kind of put the car shopping on hold and forgot about it when we were at Sunday dinner and my brother in law told Jeff that he was getting a new truck and selling his. His is a truck just like Jeff wanted and we knew that it had been taken care of. My brother in law has had it since 1999 and it only has 70,000 miles on it. We were so excited and we knew we could not pass it up so we told him we would take it. The only thing was that it is a manual and Jeff has never driven one before. That made him a little nervous but I encouraged him that he would love it. So we took it and he could not be more excited. I love seeing Jeff happy about something like this. He is like a little kid with a new toy it is so fun.

Jeff also had a birthday this week. It is kind of fun having our birthdays within a week of each other because we get to celebrate for two weeks. I woke up a little early for work on his birthday and made this little banner for him to see when he got up for school. I also bought him a new video game that he has been wanting. I wanted to hide the gift and then when he was done with school I was going to text him to find and open it so he would not be anxious during class to play it but I could not wait till then so I let him open it when he woke up. Here is a pic of him happy with his new game and our baby. Guidos eyes look a little creepy. That night we went to dinner at Ruby River which is Jeffs favorite place and then we went and played miniature golf. It was a lot of fun just hanging just the two of us.

Jeff takes this game pretty serious and of course he always wins.
We both had great birthdays and thank you everyone that made it that much better. We also took family pictures a couple weeks ago that turned out great so I will post those soon.

Fourth of July

Jeff and I decided in June that we wanted to run in the 5k right before the parade. Keep in mind I am not a runner at all. When I get to the gym I do not even look at the treadmills I head straight for the elliptical or the bikes. I hate running with a passion but I just feel that it is something that I should take on because it is so good for you. So about two weeks before the race I started running on the treadmill to see if I could handle it and I found that if I am watching the doctors or Ellen then it is rather easy. A couple nights before the race Jeff, my nephew Devin and my sister in law Nikki all decided to do a practice run of the race just so we would not make fools of ourselves on the day of the race. I thought that I was gonna die and even though I finished that night I just kept thinking to myself this running crap sucks. I really did not want to do the race at all but somehow I talked myself back into it. So Jeff and I get there bright and early and we were running a little late of course so we decided not to pay because that is lame to pay $30 a person just to kill yourself. So I decide that my bra is a safe place to put my money even though Jeff insisted that his pocket was better. So we were running the race and let me tell you while you are in the moment with everyone else it is not as bad as you think. My goal the whole time was to just finish at the 30 minute mark because I did not want to be kicked off for the parade starting and I did not want to miss any of it. So Nikki and I came strolling in at....drum roll please.....29 minutes. For you crazy runners that is weak but for me that is fantastic. I was so excited that I actually finished it and under the time that I wanted. So I go to find Jeff because of course he finished before me with 27 minutes and reach into my bra to get the money and to my surprise there was no money to be found. I looked and looked and still there was no money. I guess that's what I get for thinking I am better then just paying the money. Overall it was fun and I am excited to do more races and build up to the Ragnar next year.Our little family with our matching outfits. Guido was way mad that we made him wear these shorts for the picture but I could not resist they were so cute.Mars family and Jeffs family always sit by each other in the parade so we got a picture together with our festive shirts from American Eagle.This is not the best pic of Jeff and I but please notice my creeper nephew in the background. Can you say Chester the Molester. Ha Ha.

The fourth of July is one of my fave holidays and I am always so sad to see it go but I am excited for next year already.