When the boy is away the girl will...

.. watch way too many cheesy abc family Christmas movies and love every one of them. I'm talking like six movies in two days.. Thank you Netflix.

really high quality photo I know.

.. allow their counter to look like this while she works on their tree skirt.

.. go to her classes like normal. I figured if the boy had to go to classes then I should probably still go to mine.

.. break the side mirror off of their good car. (definitely the boy's fault for moving our bikes)

.. eat sphagettioes for dinner because she is too lazy to cook for one.

.. nearly die from a cold. Maybe I wasn't anywhere close to death, but it wasn't any fun.

Taylor went out of town for some training for work for a couple days leaving me to fend for myself. I would say that I manged it quite well. It's kinda fun to be away from each other for longer than normal. It makes you grateful for him being there all the time.

Jumping on the Thankful Train

Everyone has been doing their 'thankful days' on Facebook or their blogs, but I never got around to doing anything like that(because school is slowly sucking the life out of me). I can't let November go by without taking a minute to think about what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my husband, and for the love that we have for each other. I'm thankful that he works so hard to support us, and I am even more thankful that he loves his job. I told Taylor the other day that Brei and Lehi want some ideas of what to get us, mainly you, for Christmas. His reply was, "Tell them to get something that you would love because as long as you're happy with it then I am happy." For real though, he says these things all the time. I hit the jackpot with this man.

I'm thankful for my mom. She truly is my best friend. She is the greatest person in the world, and I'm not saying that because I'm just like her. I love that I am exactly like her. I wouldn't want to be like anyone else. Living so far from her is never easy, but knowing that I can text or call her anytime makes things easier. She always takes the time to listen to me, and she has been the best role model.

Who wouldn't be thankful for this ghillie suited man and this wonderful grandma!

I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my dad, and the way he is. He's the most annoying, loving, funny but so not funny, caring dad in the world. I'm thankful that my family is growing, and that I have been blessed with awesome sister-in-laws. I don't get to see them often, but when I do it is always the best.

I'm thankful to have the gospel in my life. I'm thankful that I choose to attend church every Sunday, and to have the Savior in my life. It has brought me so much joy. I can't even imagine where I would be without it.

Even though I hate it so very much I am thankful that I am going to school. This semester has been my most challenging one, but I am so glad that I have the chance to get an education. I feel like I have learned more than ever before this semester, and I truly love my major. Let me just add that in four out of my six classes I have above a 97, the other two are above a 91, and I'm still working twenty hours a week. Yes I'm bragging, but I'd say that I'm earning that right!

I'm thankful that I have everything I need. Taylor and I may still have wants, but we have always been able to provide everything that we need. Big expenses have jumped out at us lately, but have been able to bounce back from them.

I'm thankful to have Taylor's family to spend the holidays with this year. They have treated me so well, and they make spending the holidays away from my immediate family a lot easier.

I am thankful for my health, and my family's health. We've had a bit of a rough patch recently, but we are all strong and doing just fine. I really don't think that I could be more thankful for that.

Pumpkin Carving and Decor

This October has been filled with so much fall fun. I'm sad to see it leaving, but I can't wait for October next year. I love getting to decorate my own apartment, and go on fall dates. We've fit in more batches of pumpkin cookies then we should admit to, watched Hocus Pocus, went to Dr. Slaughters, a corn maze, carved pumpkins, and made caramel apples.

Taylor takes his pumpkin carving very seriously. I don't think they would ever admit it, but Taylor and his twin compete to see who can can carve a better pumpkin every year. His pumpkin came out pretty cool. 

I chose a much simpler design, but sometimes less is more. I don't have the patience to do something intricate. I always forget how much fun it is to see your freshly carved pumpkin all lit up.

Taylor and I decided that we are going to get decorations little by little every year so that we don't have to spend a fortune all at once. This is what we have found this year.

We picked up these skeletons for a dollar at the Dollar Tree. They started out sitting nicely on the bookshelf and TV stand, and then Taylor and Sheldon moved them around. We came home one night after Sheldon had been in our apartment, and found them laying in our bed tucked in on each of our sides. 

Terrible picture, but I got the pumpkins at Target for a dollar each as well in their dollar spot.

I made this wreath back in September. It is the most expensive Halloween decor, but I like it. I bought ribbon at Walmart, Micheals, and Ebay which gave me such a wide selection to choose from. I measured each kind of ribbon, cut them the length I liked, and tied them on in a random order. The ribbon looked nicer when I first made it, but 35 mph winds haven't been very nice to it. The bats were super easy to make, and I love them. I traced a bat i printed off of the computer, bent the wings out a little, and hung them up with some blue tacky stuff. Now that the hard work is done I can't wait to use them year after year.

This 'Spooky' sign doesn't have a good home yet, but he has been working it on top of the stove. I found it for three dollars at Seagull Book. I love finding random cute decorations for super cheap. It makes them so much better.

Happy Halloween!

Drag Races

It is surprising that I have been with Taylor for over a year and a half now, and this past weekend was the first time that I went to a dirt bike event. His family is really into it and goes to/competes in hill climbs, races, and goes on trips to Nevada where they can ride in the winter. This was the first event that worked out with our schedule, and was close enough to not cost us a fortune. It was also the first road trip that we got to take our new car on, and he did great.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture that I took of us.. But it does show how gorgeous of a day it was. Sunny and sixty. Couldn't have asked for a better fall day.

Taylor's parents weren't able to make it at the last minute, but we did get to spend the day with his aunt and uncle and two of his cousins. It was nice to see some family since we rarely make it down to Grace anymore.

My view for the day

I wasn't very fond of the snowmobile racing. Too loud and annoying for my taste. We saw a terrible wreck happen to one of the snowmobile racers which was definitely the worst part of the day. Last we knew he wasn't in good shape, but you aren't going to walk away with just a bruise when you crash going 108 mph.. It made me very grateful that Taylor doesn't do any of this competing so I don't have to worry about something like that happening to him. 

My favorite part of the day! Yes, that is lawn mower racing. They went so fast.

Looking at this all day didn't hurt

We came home covered in dirt with sunburned faces. It was really fun, and I'm glad that Taylor got to go to something that he loves.

Cookie Tradition

Growing up we had many different traditions. One tradition is to make these super scrumptious sugar cookies every Valentine's Day and Halloween. Valentine's Day is always hearts and Halloween is ghosts and pumpkins. These are the only two times of the year that we ever made them, and that is what has made them.

A mess that I don't mind, and nothing better than my man using the Kitchenaid.

I brought the cookies to work and decorated them with the boys. It was so perfect that they had Halloween shirts on. Take note of Bridger eating a spoonful of icing, and it was at 9:30 in the morning. (they just couldn't wait any longer) We made the cookies back in February as well. I love getting to share this tradition with them.