Thankful Much?

I know that you Blog or Facebook frequenters out there have seen a lot on this theme but what is Thanksgiving without a gratitude shout out?

I would have to say this is one of my favorite songs right now and so fitting for Thanksgiving!  Who doesn't want to spend Thanksgiving at HOME with family and friends.



At the beginning of this month I really wanted to write a letter to everyone I was grateful for,letting them know just how much I appreciated them all.  A LOFTY goal to say the least.  I may still pull it off but I am pretty doubtful.  For you readers today I thought I would do some quick "Thank You" notes Jimmy Fallon style.  Here is my rendition. 

Thank You, Poli-Sci teacher...for teaching me right out of EVER thinking of politics as a career path.

Thank You, wine...for making me feel sophisticated WHILE intoxicated.

Thank You, Heather...one of my best buddies in the whole world and calamitous partner in crime.  Someone I can always say "It could always be worse" to and be proven wrong every time.

Thank You, neighbors....for leaving your Halloween decorations out all through November...making me feel just a little less bad about not decorating much for this so neglected holiday.

Thank You, Days of Our Lives...for entertaining me while I work each day and for giving me just one more embarrassing skeleton in my closet.

Thank You, full time school/part time work/full time mom/entrepreneur status...for reminding me each and everyday that doing things backwards is REALLY REALLY hard!

Thank You, sweater weather....for hiding those five pounds that I keep "swearing" I am going to take off.

Thank You, kid kin-x and blocks...for gracing my floor with your presence each and every day.

Thank You, laundry pile....for providing a place for my kids to hide while playing hide and seek and a bed for my doggy fit for a king.

Thank You, hats...I have gotten a lot of use out of you the last few weeks.  I promise I will give you a break...soon(ish)

Thank You, scarves...for keeping me on my toes.  I have yet to figure out just how to wear you, but I will.  I am always up for a challenge.

Thank You, "Because" and "Actually"...the two favorite big words that come out of "B's" little mouth.  You help her get away with so much..for that she is grateful.

Thank You, inappropriately early Christmas music...for hitting the radio while we are still coming out of our Halloween candy comma. 

In all seriousness I truly am grateful for so much.  I am so incredibly blessed with an amazing family, kids, hubby, friends.  I have so much....life is good.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope it is a great one for all of you.

A Story

I can't believe that October has come and gone already!
Would it sound weird to say that I'm still wanting an extra summer day?  Serious. 
I saw Christmas decorations out at stores a few days ago.  I am NOT ready for that!

Speaking of decorations, check out my killer Halloween decorations (score!):

 

Jody thinks the story behind its' acquisition belongs on reality TV....a Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.  Haha.  I still think I just wasn't explaining things to her right.   At least she didn't liken it to Honey Boo Boo! 

Tell me what you think.  Here's the story:

When we moved into our new home and met our next door neighbor, she told me how Halloween was her absolute very favorite holiday and she goes "all out" with spooky decorations and a big neighborhood soup party before trick-or-treating every year.  I told her that I love Halloween, too, but she just went right on with how much it really means to her.  It is HER deal.....keep in mind that was in April.  We heard about the Halloween decorations at least once a month after that.

So, toward the end of September when I was deciding if I should decorate my window boxes "spooky" or just keep it "fall-esque", the hubby and I started thinking about how we wanted to decorate our new house.  We both have fun at Halloween and wanted to have some cool decorations.  We pulled out our old decorations and discovered that we must have a box buried under building supplies somewhere, because we couldn't find my sweet Halloween wreath (I WILL have it up next year) and some of our standbys.  We decided that we would have to buy something this year and looked at this great boutique by our house.

While we were there we saw some really neat spiders and decided that it would be fun and easy to build on an arachnophobia theme each year.  Just when we were deciding between a large brown recluse and something with a neon stripe, it occurred to me that maybe we should keep things tame because I had noticed that the neighbors' house wasn't looking as decked out as I was thinking it would.  She had put up some life-sized ghouls and ghosts and a spider on her front porch.  But, it was far from what we had expected (it was quite the let down).  I told the hubby that maybe we should wait to see if she was going to put anything more up, because I did not want to steal her thunder.  He thought I was crazy, but obliged.  We put a few purple lights and leaf garland up and waited.

Here comes my Real Housewives moment.  Jody and I just happened to be talking to each other on the day and time that I decided that waiting to see if my neighbor was going to put up more decorations was absolutely ridiculous.  It went something like this:  Who cares, right?  She doesn't own Halloween....I can love Halloween, too.....And, we can decorate our house however we like....it would be crazy for us to NOT decorate because we thought her decorations were just okay.....AND, hey why can't I have a cool Halloween house?  In fact, I'm going to buy the really awesome spider that is on a motion detector and lunges downward when someone walks by!....Oh, I can decorate cool alright!

The price of the spider on a motion detector held me back and I ended up leaving the boutique without anything.....again. 

At this moment I feel like I have to say that I was very sick and so very tired.  That's my excuse for even going there with the Halloween decorations.  :)

I let that spider lie and moved on.....until we saw this beauty:

When Jody and I took the girls to Gardners Village we saw it for sale at Celebrations (GREAT store!).  I was sure its' price would keep me from it, but not only did it fit into our Halloween budget, it was 25% off!  THEN, I found the huge web at another store just before we left.  It was up the next day!

I have absolutely loved that the house looks really decorated and it's only two things!  We put it over the top with lots of spider webs through the front yard, a few smaller spiders and a black crow stuck in the web.  Haha.  I liked that touch by the husband.

I agreed with Jody and thought I had to have been having some sort of RH moment when I started talking about neighbors and decorations.  That would be so "Keeping up with the Jones", right?  And, truly once I got a little sleep I laughed thinking that I would think our neighbor would even care about it one way or the other.........

Yeah, you guessed it.  We are pretty sure that our little arachnid house peeved our neighbor.  She would not say a word about our big spider.  Even when her daughter kept telling her how cool it was.  Tight lipped.  Oh, boy. 

So, now we will have to decide if we build on it next year, or wait to see what the neighbor does.  :)

ANYWHO, Halloween was great.  Always is!  We hit our friend's annual chili party and then went trick-or-treating with new friends......including the woman we bought our new house from!  CRAZY!  I'll have to blog on that next week. 

 

M was Cinderella, C was a lion and I was a lion tamer.

 



The husband was....well....hot?  haha.  He really WAS hot.  He had planned a great spooky costume for Utah fall weather.  Then, we broke records at 75 degrees.  UGH!

I have to point out that the black mark on my little lions face is some of hubby's makeup.  NOT a bruise. 

Hope you guys had fun, too! 
What do you think about my Spider story?

Real housewives, real housewives of Salt Lake, Salt Lake housewives, real housewives of salt lake, housewives, spider decoration, large spider decoration, giant spider decoration, large spider decoration, giant spider house decoration, large black spider decoration, lion tamer costume, lion costume, Cinderella costume, lion tamer costume, lion tamer costume, lion tamer costume, lion tamer costume, real housewives, real housewives salt lake, lion tamer costume

This is Halloween.....Halloween...Halloween

I wish I was more of a Halloween enthusiast.  Pretty sure I got it from my parents.  Growing up we had a giant box of costume accessories and every year my parents would say....."See what you can put together out of the costume box".  None of this, costume every year garbage.  We had to use our creativity and rarely did anyone know who we were ;). 

I guess with these childhood Halloween memories you either over compensate and go over the top for Halloween or....like me you continue the "cycle" of 'Halloween' abuse.  Yep, that is where I am at.  I am dressing up in my "LBD" ONCE AGAIN as Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's and I had the "Coyster" buy a hat and find the rest of his costume in his closet.

Even better than our homemade costumes was our Halloween photographer.

Attempt 1:

Attempt #2:
Attempt #3

Nothing like scrounging up costumes and photographers (love ya' dad ;).  These are better than last year however.....last year ALL of our heads were cut off.

I am topping off the holiday with THE candy that the trick or treating kids despise.  BULK CANDY MIX.  Yes I think I have officially massacred Halloween :).  

I can possibly promise I will do better next year....possibly.

Happy Halloween everyone.  I hope you have a great one!

 

Jody's TOP TEN FALL MUST DO's:

I think every season must have a "MUST DO" list.  Of course, for the self proclaimed Fun Junkie this has to be a FUN list.  This is tailored to Utah, so for those outside of Utah you should consider a Fall trip one year.  Fall is AMAZING here!

Here it goes....

JODY'S TOP TEN FALL MUST DO'S:

1. Fall Mountain Biking Trip:

I haven't been mountain biking for YEARS, not since I was charged by a moose during the moose rut (a whole other blog post) to be exact but it was AMAZING!  We hit Rock Canyon campground at the top of Provo canyon and rode down.  It was rocky and intense but worth the sore legs and hand cramps. 

2. Hit your local ski resort for a Fall Colors scenic lift ride:

My local resort.  SUNDANCE!  I LOVE Sundance.  It is one of my favorite places to be in Summer/Fall and this lift ride did not disappoint.  

3. Hit farm country.....bonus if it has a pumpkin patch: 

Our local farm country is a place called Hee-Haws.  A family fun farm clad with a petting zoo, corn maze, hay rides, pumpkin patch, slides, swings and games.  We had a blast! 

4. Pick up a Pumpkin Spice Latte:

Photo: http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/espresso/pumpkin-spice-latte

I have to admit I CAN NOT get enough of these this fall.  I think I had four last week alone.  Check out the nutritional info on these puppies....It is KILLING ME in the weight management arena :). 

5. HIKE HIKE HIKE...need I say more? 

The canyon just up the street was teasing me with it's intense pop of red!  My motto for this fall was "hike to the red".  We made it...and it was AMAZING!

 6. Enjoy some Harvest Ale

Photo: http://draftmag.com/

I am more of a wine gal myself but I love me a good harvest beer.  This is one on my list that is still on the "TO DO".  I WILL surely take care of this one before we hit winter.

7. Enjoy a night out with the Witches (and great friends)

Here in Utah Gardener Village is the place to be on October.  The Witchfest is in full swing.  If you live in Utah and have not been, I strongly recommend you stop by and see the witches.  

8. Get Crafty

Something about Fall turns on my inner crafty....it is about time!  We kicked off our Fall Craft central with some Rustic owls.  Stay tuned for some "How To-sies".

 9.  Make/Enjoy/Indulge yourself with Carmel Apple.....YUM

Photo and Recipe: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/caramel-apples-10000001540364/index.html

10. Throw yourself some type of Harvest shindig...whether it be a tailgate party, a Halloween party or host Thanksgiving.  Just do it.  There is nothing like the Fall and it is even better when shared with family and friends.

Here are my Fall "Must Do's"....what are yours? 

Fab Find...Sunday

I am thinking "Better late than never" is quickly turning into my motto of the month....unfortunately.

My Fab Find Friday has turned into my Fab Find Sunday :).

This week I got a STEAL on Halloween costumes for my girls!  Old Navy is always my place to go for baby gifts and when I was there last they had a clearance rack full of Halloween costumes.  Little "B" picked out the butterfly one. 

 

 Warm, fleecy and cozy all for just 12.99!  I was stoked. 

The Fab Find got even better when I got home and showed Indiana.  She just HAD to be a butterfly too.  Girls Halloween costumes....Check.

 Look at those cute little butterflies!

 The pants didn't quite make it on..I think they were in the wash :)

They have already been able to wear them with a Halloween shirt.  Another bonus.  I don't know about you but I HATE buying Halloween costumes.  I feel like it is such a waste of money every year. So when I pick one up for just over ten bucks, it is warm AND they can wear the pants before Halloween night I consider it a total fab find.  Yep I am that interesting.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Jody's Pinterest Halloween Party Faves

First let me say Heather I LOVE your window boxes!  It makes me want to head straight for the dollar store to get the supplies to spruce up my own window boxes.  Thanks for the inspiration.

For decorating on a shoestring Heather has your back!  This post is to help you throw a killer Halloween party on a shoestring!   

We are getting ready to put together our annual Halloween party and I have been scouring Pinterest for some fun (cheap) Halloween Decor and Party Ideas.  I  am so amazed at the creativity out there!  I absolutely love Pinterest for this.....it helps get my creative juices flowing. 

It was super hard but I narrowed it down to my TOP 10 Halloween Party Ideas

1.  Every party needs some great invitations:

Photo: http://serendipitycreative.blogspot.com

You can grab these amazing FREE invitations  HERE on this AMAZING blog!  

These are freebie invitations that just keep giving....with matching bottle labels and cupcake toppers! 

2.  All great parties need some great Halloween decor:

Photo: http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net

 Isn't this the cutest wreath! I think I could even manage to make it! Check out the tutorial HERE

3. All Great parties need some great games:

Photo: http://www.rookno17.com

You can download this fun scavenger hunt HERE. 

4. You always need more than one:

Photo: http://amandaparkerandfamily.blogspot.com

Pin the eye of the Monster.  GENIUS! You can check out how to make this cute lil' guy HERE

5. It isn't a party without some Halloween themed BINGO:

Photo: http://thecraftingchicks.com

You can find these amazing free printables HERE on this great BLOG.

6. Love this one:

Photo: http://www.jeanetics.net

You can see the details on this great BLOG.

7. Its all about the presentation:

Photo: http://www.marthastewart.com

Who does it better than Martha Stewart!  Find "How to" HERE

8. "Who" could resist these cupcakes:

Photo: http://onecharmingparty.com/

 

 

Can I just say I LOVE One Charming Party you can find instructions on these lil' guys HERE

9.   What would a Halloween Party be without the CANDY:

Photo: http://www.theidearoom.net

The IDEA ROOM had a great idea....Mummy Chocolate Bars.  Can't go wrong there!

10. One last party favor so cute you won't want to eat it:

Photo: http://wantsandwishesdesign.blogspot.com

Check out this AMAZING blog for instructions and super cute / super affordable party printables!
 
Phew....there is my TOP TEN now on to finish the Party Planning!  

The business of motherhood.....

Heather and I have committed in our effort to blog with "Intention" to blog about issues that affect us as mothers once a week.  An interview I watched on the Today show was the perfect subject for my post.  A mother on Strike!

I absolutely loved this story!  I strongly suggest you take the extra five minutes to check it out.

Mom goes on strike, stops cleaning for a week, chaos ensues

All I can say is I SOOOO Relate!  There have been MANY times I have threatened to strike and I give kudos to this mom for actually doing it.

I think the best comment was when the youngest girl said she was "Sad" when she saw the mold.  Priceless.   I honestly can not even imagine if I let my house go for a week.  YIKES!  

I know this is what "B's" would look like (always) if I went on strike. 

I do think that children need chores and every mom needs help; whether she is a working mom, stay at home mom, a college student or all of the above (the category I am currently in).  My oldest child does chores but I will be the first to admit that I am not consistent enough.  My youngest two will help out only if I am cleaning with them and even then it is like pulling teeth.   

Enough already!  Time to Pinterest the dreaded "Chore Chart".

What do you think?  What are your feelings on this?  Do you think she went too far? 

My thoughts.....this lady is a genius and I think I am ready for a strike and a glass of wine myself ;). 

Faaaaaahhhhl

I can't begin to put into words how beautiful Utah is right now.
All of the leaves are changing color.
When you are in the city and look up to the mountains, all you see are vibrant greens, reds, oranges and yellows.

If you've been following us for awhile, I'm sure that you have heard me say that Summer is my very favorite season.  It really is.  But, Fall would come in a very close second.
I LOVE Halloween and everything that goes along with it.....carving pumpkins, dressing up, costume parties, corn mazes, haunted houses, apple cider, scary movies......I also love wearing boots & the cooler weather....
Fall has always meant new beginnings to me.  Maybe because school always began in Fall.  There's a certain air of excitement that goes along with it.

I've been promising M that we would take a picnic up Millcreek Canyon.
It only takes us 10 minutes to get to this spot from our house!  That includes windy mountain roads.
So, blessed!

The weather held for so long, it almost seemed like it would last forever.  Of course, it changed over night and it was actually cold last weekend.  We tried to beat the sun going down and opted to just take Five Guys burgers, hot dogs and fries up.  That still qualifies as a picnic, right?

This must be M practicing for Halloween.  Might be a scream or a growl.
Check out the hubby's expression.  It is cracking me up. 
She must have been screaming!

Here's some more good facial expressions from him.
Self portraits by just holding the camera in front of you just never seem to turn out.

My poor husband.  When I saw these pictures I asked him if he's feeling okay.
Since he had cancer, I'm always looking at his face and body - searching for any signs of another bout of the ugly stuff.  He's actually TRYING to lose weight.  But, now that his face is looking thinner, I catch myself wondering and worrying.

When we met with his Oncologist (who, by the way is THE VERY BEST!) for the first time, she warned me that the spouse always worries more than the patient.  She was SO very right on that one!

All I will say is that I am glad he has a follow up tomorrow.  The fact that he has them every 4 months, keeps me sane.

Oh, yeah.  I don't know that I've actually talked about his cancer on the blog much.  So, I should tell you that he is in remission...YEAH!  Thought I better say something in case you were wondering. 

I wish I would have adjusted the settings on my camera as the sun was going down.  These photos look a little drab.  It really wasn't.  The colors were so vibrant!

I would love to be able to purchase Photoshop.  Maybe one day.  Until then, I heard about a freebie program that is supposed to pretty good.  It's called Inkscape.  I hear it is comparable to Illustrator.  We shall see.  I downloaded it the other day.  I'm excited to start playing with it and hoping that I can do some photo editing with it.  I'll let you know.

 

 

She's so funny.  She doesn't wear her sunglasses because she thinks they look cool.  She's always worried about protecting her eyes.  I don't know where that came from.  But, she wears them quite a bit.

 

What is Fall like in your neighborhood?

 

Millcreek Canyon, Millcreek Canyon Fall, Millcreek Canyon, Millcreek Canyon fall, Fall color Millcreek Canyon, fall in Millcreek Canyon, Millcreek Canyon, fall color Millcreek, Millcreek Canyon Utah, Millcreek Canyon Utah, Millcreek Fall Color, Millcreek Utah, Mt Olympus Utah, Mount Olympus, Mount Olympus Utah, Mount Olympus UT, Mount Olympus