Fun Fall Festivities

This week is Fall Break at school and was also my mom's last week of vacation for the year. My mom and Skyler head up to Garnder Village every October to see the witches, and this year I was lucky enough to join them! Skyler loves walking around and looking at all the different witches they have displayed all around the village. He was slightly annoyed with me when I wanted to go in the shoe store and the quilt shop... poor kid. I think he's finally old enough to realize that shopping with the ladies isn't so fun for a little boy. But he was a good sport and had a good time. I even found two snowmen ornaments for my tree and a super cute Christmas project! I love the holidays!!! :)

I thought I was going to break this cart... it was a little unstable. Is it just me, or is it leaning to the right? Maybe it was only meant for small children.

Me and Sky

Me, Sky and Mom

I convinced Skyler that he needed to sit so the witch was putting her arm around him. He thought that was pretty sweet. Hmmm... a ladie's man at 6?!?

Twists, Turns, and Thrills of Every Kind...

It had been twelve long years, but I finally had the chance to go to Lagoon! I had a blast! My friend Tyler got tickets, so we went up with his brother and sister-in-law on Friday night. Every October, they do Frightmares at Lagoon and have several haunted houses throughout the park and have it all decorated for Halloween. We only went into one haunted house because lines were crazy long to get in. (I was okay with that... I'm not exactly a big fan of getting scared.)

As for the rides, they were so fun! I don't entirely enjoy heights, but I LOVE roller coasters. So I tend to spend most of the 60 second ride screaming at the top of my lungs while closing my eyes as tight as I can. Every now and then I will get brave and open them, only to realize how high up I really am, so I quickly shut them again. But there is something about flying around the coaster spinning and twisting. It is such a rush! Clay and Jess (Tyler's bro and sis-in-law) went on the Sky Coaster (the one where you get pulled up 150 feet in the air and drop) and tried to get me and Tyler to go. I was a chicken and wouldn't go. So we stayed at the bottom and filmed them falling. Maybe next time I am up there I will do it... maybe. (Shhh..... I kinda wish I would have done it...) I am having a hard time deciding which ride was my favorite. It's a toss up between Wicked and The Spider. Both were equally fun, fast and terrifying. Other fun rides included the Samurai, The Rocket and Re-Entry, and Wild Mouse.

Wicked: You start this ride by being blasted straight up (see the really tall tower? That's what you get blasted up!) and then immediately fall straight back down, followed by sharp twists, turns, and loops. Wowzers.

The Spider: For this ride, two people ride forward and two ride backward. As you start twisting on the coaster, the car starts to spin as well. So as you are flipping around loops, etc., your car is spinning every which way. Such a fun ride!!!

I had so much fun and can't wait to get back up there! It was definintely worth braving the chilly weather, the dizziness and nausea, and was most definitely worth the rush that came with each ride!

A Few Random and Unrelated Thoughts...

I left my apartment this morning to run up to my parent's house and was pleasantly surprised to walk out and see SNOW falling! As much as I detest driving in the snow, I think it is absolutely beautiful. And since today's snow was minimal and didn't even stick to the ground, I was even more a fan of it! We're supposed to get more tonight and tomorrow, so that should be fun! I'm especially excited to bundle up and head to the football game!

On another completely unrelated note, Mare and I went up to see BodyWorlds on Thursday (Thanks for the tickets, Carrie!). It was amazing. I loved taking anatomy, and I love working in the medical field, so I appreciated the exhibit so much more. I am so amazed at how intricate and complex the body is, and how everything connects and works together to make us go. It was a great reminder to me to take care of myself and to take care of what I have been given. After seeing the exhibit, I don't know how anyone can deny the reality of a Heavenly Father and of the incredible event of the Creation. It's truly amazing.

I went to Cabela's for the first time yesterday... what an experience! You can roam that store for hours... and we did. It is huge! I will admit, however, that it was fun and I did have a good time. They have some pretty cool stuff there. It was funny to watch some of the people in there..... it was like little kids in a candy store. My friend's brother took off running when we got into the store and we didn't see him for a while. I suppose I react the same way when I go to a scrapbook store. You know... we've all seen them, and sometimes probably are them.... the women who go running like crazy through scrapbook warehouse sales or expo shows. Except these were men. And they had an entire two levels of outdoor equipment to explore and enjoy. Glad I was able to witness that at least once in my lifetime. Wooo!

Lastly, I went to Lagoon yesterday for the first time in 12 years! But that deserves a post of its own, so stay tuned for that!

Sorry to have written a novel of a post, but I just had a few random thoughts on my mind and thought I would post them. But now I suppose I should actually do something productive, like, oh, my homework and other somewhat bothersome and seemingly unnecessary things that occupy my time. Until next time...

I've Been Tagged!!!

This is my first tag! Yay! Thanks, Val!

My Top 8:

8 Favorite TV shows:
1. The Office
2. What Not to Wear
3. CSI:Vegas
4. Food Network (especially the cake decorating competitions!)
5. Myth Busters
6. Jon & Kate + 8
7. Trading Spaces
8. Re-runs of shows from my youth...

8 Favorite Restraunts:
1. Olive Garden
2. Zupas
3. Chick-Fil-A
4. Mama Chus
5. Most sub sandwich places
6. Macaroni Grill
7. Bajio (they have AMAZING cheese quesadillas...)
8. Outback Steak House

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Ate crepes for breakfast (it's a tradition... every Conference Sunday we have them!)
2. Watched Conference
3. Drove the Alpine Loop with the fam (see previous post for more details!)
4. Did some laundry
5. Went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner
6. Put my laundry away
7. Watched Newsies with my roomies
8. Read
(My days are usually a little more exciting...)

8 things to look forward to:
1. Tomorrow's work meeting being overwith
2. This semester to be done! (only two more to go!!!)
3. Going to sleep tonight
4. Halloween!
5. Fall Break next week
6. The Office on Thursday night
7. Skyler's Primary Program
8. Graduating from college!!!

8 things I love about fall:
1. The amazing colors and the changing leaves
2. The sound of leaves crunching under my feet
3. The smell of crisp Autumn air
4. Halloween and Thanksgiving
5. Drives up the canyons
6. BYU Football
7. A new semester with new challenges
8. Family time that comes with all the holidays

8 Things on My Wish List:
1. My degree (and a job to go with it)
2. A new car
3. A new camera
4. To travel
5. To get married
6. To be a mom
7. That sweet Skyler grows up healthy and happy and knows that he is so loved
8. I can be my very best every day (or at least try to reach that)

8 people I'm tagging:
1. Kels
2. Mare
3. Jules
4. Jill
5. Mikey
6. Ambs
7. Karin
8. Anyone else who wants to do it!

The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow...

Yes, it will. But this is the incredible sunrise I saw this morning as I turned into my parking lot at work. I ran into the building and onto our balcony and took some pictures because I was in such awe. I rarely get to see the sun come up, and today's was exceptionally gorgeous!

Isn't it amazing? I love how the rays stream out through the clouds! Such a spectacular sight!

Alpine Loop

We drove the Alpine Loop between General Conference sessions on Sunday and it was absolutely gorgeous! The aspen trees were such a vibrant yellow and were so pretty! Timp is now covered in snow... I am so glad we hiked it when we did! Skyler had a great time trying to find the few red leaves that we could find. He even wore his Indiana Jones hat, (maybe he thought we were going on an adventure of some sort) and kept referring to our drive as a vacation. It was quite funny. While it wasn't exactly a vacation, it was a nice drive and an incredible reminder of how much I love the mountains and how thankful I am for the chance to live in such a pretty place. I am so blessed!

The aspens were such a bright yellow!

I love how blue the sky is! It was stunning!

Isn't it beautiful?!?!? (but I'm still glad I didn't have to hike through it!)

Me and Kels

Mom, Skyler, Kels, and Me

Question of the Year

With so many Halloween costume ideas out there, one is bound to struggle with what to be. I am in such a predicament. I do not know what to dress up as. Kels, Mare and I have tossed around a few ideas, but nothing has really struck us as the perfect idea.

So... if anyone has an fantastic ideas, I will not in any way be offended if you choose to share them with me. I am willing to consider just about anything right now. Afterall, we only have 29 days until Halloween...