Fall: Voted best in..

colors...

decoration...

picture opportunities...

smells...

and everything else.

I know I have the same request every year but...

fall,

will you please, please, please just stay forever?

September is over, and I think I blogged twice.

So, here's the wrap up. AKA--25 (or quite possibly more) blog stories I slacked on, and am compiling into one post.

I didn't think I was up to very much...and then I checked the pictures on my phone.

Two things to note before I start:
1--Phone pictures. Quality. Ew.
2--Random, random, random.

People always ask to see my dog, so I figured I'd take a few pictures of him to keep on my phone. He wasn't as fond as the idea as I was though.

No explanation really needed. Poofy eyes. Hard day. Pretty flowers.

Amy Lou, Alena, Audie, and Danny came down a week after the funeral. It was nice to have company for a long span. Even though I went home everynight, it still felt like a vacation! The first night they were here we went up to the Dam Jam and camped over night. Alena and I formed a sweet bond. (Thanks to cupcake making/Spa Treatment giving/Coloring Apps!) The next day we had a BBQ at our house, and another BBQ at a friends house the next day! It was so good to see my cousins. It's been so long!!

The little cousins enjoyed it, too! Alexis showed Danny a little on the guitar. (It was so cute, I wish I would have had my camera!! Apparently there is no flash on my phone :( )

Other than that, they played games, tag, hung out, and watched movies!

The Nay Family Band (My Aunt/Uncle/Cousins) played on the biggest stage to date!!

Yep! That's right, they were asked to perform for the Kennecot Company party at the Rio Tinto stadium!! The party was two Monday's in a row, and we all agree it was the best gig so far..everything was free including the entry, all food, drinks, candy, popcorn, snowie's...everything!! Then, after the festivities they showed a movie on the big screen (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs). I couldn't get Trav to stay for it the second time but Levi, Harley, and I hung out and watched it with my Aunt and the fam. It was good times!

Levi and Harley stood in line for a total of about 2 hours waiting for a clown to make them balloons. The balloons were popped less than 30 minutes later, but they had fun together. They don't get to hang out very often, so it was good for them to see each other.

A few weeks later Katie had her very first Drill Team performance! The opening game was at the Rio Tinto stadium, so back we were. It was a pretty eventful evening. It was on a Friday night and Trav had planned for us to go to a BBQ at our friends house. I kindly reminded him of Katie's performance and he said he would go to the BBQ but they'd wait for me to be done with the half-time show, and start cooking when I got there.

Perfect.

We get to the real stadium and find out that it's 8 bucks a person, plus 5 for parking. Seriously? Thirteen bucks to watch a 2 minute half-time show? I could care less about the football game, but whatever. Kass and I get up to the ticket booth, ask if we can just go in. We let them know we will only be there for the half-time show.

Shot down.

Paid the money, and went inside.

**Family, if your reading...skip over this part.**

My wonderful family tried to pull a fast one, telling Kass and I that the halftime show started at 7, when in reality...the actual game didn't even start until 7:30. Little liars.

We get all settled in and it starts to rain a little. I'm thinking "Oh, this is awesome...I love the rain!"

Then, it started pouring!!!

We were soaked in no time.

Remember that scene in Dumb and Dumber where they are on the motorcycle and Harry is on the back of the bike and he is absolutely freezing...He can't feel his fingers. Floyd looks back and says "Ooh. Maybe you should wear these extra gloves... my hands are starting to get sweaty."

Yeah...same thing happened with my Aunt and the extra umbrella. Needless to say by the time we got the umbrella, we were soaked.

It didn't *really* phase us though. We ate blue airheads, and enjoyed the rain. The game took forever to get to half-time, so that was kind of frustrating. Finally, the half-time show came, and we were all excited to see Katie perform for the first time on the Drill Team.

Then we heard The Voice.

"Attention, due to severe weather conditions, this evenings half-time show has been cancelled. Sorry for the inconvenience."

What??? Cancelled??? We paid 13 bucks, missed a BBQ, and soaked ourselves all for nothing!!

We left, and made it to the BBQ right on time. 10 oclock.

While we're on the subject of Katie's performances. Let's talk about her second (first) performance. The one where some kid who drives a truck that looks similar to this one:

thought it would be the best idea in the world to create a *third* row of cars by parking behind my car, which was already behind a nice, white suburban.

This definitely made for a not happy Jessica. Come time to leave (before the game was over) I go to my car, and realize that I'm blocked in, both ways.

Long story short--A few walks back and forth from the announcing staduim, cop calls, and *one hour later*, said kid finally comes to move his truck. (No worries. I almost made him cry. I highly doubt he will be blocking someone in anytime soon.)

The best part of this story is the ending. It totally resembled a scary movie where at the end everything repeats itself. You know, like where you think the bad guy is gone forever, and then it changes scene's and now you're watching the scared couple shop in a grocery store, and the bad guy is secretly following them with his new haircut and clothes to complete his disguise. Or something like that.

So, kid finally comes to move his car, I yell at him and walk back to my family. On the way back there is a man talking to the cop.

"Hey, I'm not sure who I talk to if I'm blocked in, but would it be you?"

I shoot him a ifeelsobadforyou smile and say "Good luck, Sir. I was just in the same boat, and waited an hour."

PS--Who does that?? So ridiculous.

Look at the size of this hail!!!

Oh, and if you're wondering why I have green all over my hands it's because I was frantically trying to grab my little green bamboo sticks in which I use to stake my garden, so that I could get a cover over it before the hail completely ruined it.

Oh, you're wondering where Trav was while I was being hit in the head with marbles, trying to fix my garden, almost heartbroken...

He was under the porch. Laughing at me. Saying "By the time you get it covered, it's going to pass...blah, blah, blah I'm a mean boyfriend."

Speaking of garden! Here are a couple pictures from the garden. At first it was really slow, and lots of work for what seemed like nothing, but now it's amazing!! I know now why they call this season "Harvest"! We have had *so* many cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers, and radishes, and about 5 Bell Peppers so far!! I love, love, love it, and can't wait to garden again next year!!

We went to a Bees game the other night, and it was pretty fun. Turns out they are really long, and I know nothing about baseball! Since it was one of the last games of the season, they had a firework show! That, on the other hand, was one of the best firework shows I've seen in a really long time!! It was *so* awesome to be so close to where they were lighting the fireworks off. It seemed like everytime they lit one off, you could actually feel the *boom!* Plus, they played music while they were lighting them off, which I really enjoyed!!

Trav took me to Lagoon a few weekends back. We decided to go on a Sunday, and it was a great idea! We didn't have to wait in any line more than about 5 minutes! We're totally getting old, and Lagoon is not the same as it used to be. I can remember literally begging to stay until close every time we used to go to Lagoon. This last time, we rode our chosen rides 1-2 times, and a few hours later called it a day! As you can see, I wasn't too into the idea of taking pictures. I did grab a few of the Ferris Wheel though! I rode it for the first time ever, which is crazy cuz it's been there for so long!! It was fun though!! Thanks babe :)

I've been looking for an efficient earing holder for forever! I actually almost ordered one off of Etsy, but never got around to it! Then the best thing happened, I clicked over to see what Kevin and Amanda (http://www.kevinandamanda.com/) were up to, and Amanda had the cutest earing holder craft project up!! So, I tried it, and love it! I'm sure I'll be making more of these! Thanks Amanda!! Good find!

And, last but not least. I saw this picture on the internet (middle one) of a lady with a super cute braid/twist thingy...and I've been trying to duplicate it and have not had any luck yet. I'm determined though!! Does anyone do this?? Is there an easy way to do it? It is so cute!

And holy cow!! If you made it through that, thanks!! :)

Also--For the sake of everyone, the spider picture should be on the next page now!! (Fingers crossed)

Our new place!

aka- one of the *many* things that's been keeping us busy, busy!

After lots of driving and searching and looking and meeting and talking and deciding, we've finally found the perfect little home!

We've been here for about a week now so some things (thesparebedroommightstillbefullofboxes) still need to be done, but I can finally say the hardest part is over!! WOOHOO!!

So, of course you're wondering...what are the "goods"?

Well I'll clear that up for ya. Because I would hate for you to sit and wonder.

We now have two bedrooms.
We now have a yard.
Every room is roomier than our previous place.
I. Have. A. Garden.
I also have an area to be creative with and plant flowers.
We have the coolest little yard, setback from the street.
Our neighbors have a portable fire pit thingy and fires with neighbors from all over is a weekend norm.
We live in Sandy. =Cute neighborhood. =Close to family.
I am so so so much closer to Target.
Plus lots more. We are so stoked!!

Here are some pictures. Remember...I'm not completely done with the place, but here's what we're excited about, so far.

One of the biggest reasons we moved is because we really needed a yard. Trey needed a yard. Summer is coming. We wanted a place to sit and relax and enjoy the nice weather! (Although it has rained every day since we've had our yard..but that's another story for another day.) And well, we just really, really wanted a yard. So, when we first started moving our stuff in, the first thing we discussed was how soon we'd be able to afford a BBQ!! We decided we'd both save and get one as soon as possible! This was a must!!

Little did we know, almost at the exact moment we were talking about buying one, my wonderful family was shopping for one!!

My Grandma called me on Tuesday and said her and my Aunt were going to come by and hang out for a bit. I thought nothing of it.

An hour passed and still no Grandma.

I auto assume she's picking out some flowers for me, and some rad gardening stuff since she knew I was pretty excited about starting that up.

Finally we get a call and it's Grandma telling us to come out front and "help carry in some flowers."

I was spot on. Or so I thought!

I went straight to the back, and popped open the hatch only to find a. freekin. barbecue!!

I was so confused because I was totally expecting flowers, not this beauty!!

The first thing that came out was "For Real???" I think at that point I still thought there were flowers inside, or maybe it was stuffed with garden shovels and the works. Needless to say, it was one of the best surprises ever!! We love it!!!! Thank you so so so so so so so much guys!! :) Now we'll work on a table and some chairs and some cute lights and tiki torches! The list goes on and on!

Here are a couple pictures of our *outside* area! We love the carport thingy, and look at the view from our front door!! It's sooo nice to not be right on the street!! It's so peaceful!

Here is where I slightly brag about my flowers. I. Actually. Got. Them. To. Bloom!!! Somewhere, somehow, something was done right!! So sweet!!

Kitchen, Bedroom, and the only sliver of the laundry room I'm willing to expose at this moment.

Lots of shots of the living room. I love how it turned out!

Christmas in our house!! (Take two.)

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
Not only green when summer's here,
But also when 'tis cold and drear.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me;
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me;
How often has the Christmas tree
Afforded me the greatest glee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
From base to summit, gay and bright,
There's only splendor for the sight.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
Thou bidst us true and faithful be,
And trust in God unchangingly.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee! !

It's a start!

We *finally* got our Christmas tree tonight!

We are going to decorate it tomorrow though, haha. I can't believe it's already almost 9:00! We just barely got home from work and finished with dinner!

Anyway, I'll post pics of the finished tree tomorrow! :)

Chrismas in our house!

Christmas is coming and I'm so excited about it!! This weekend, I was able to get some decorating done :) Check it out!

Happy Holidays!!