DIY: Wooden Halloween Decorations

 As you can see, I've been a bit busy lately making all sorts of fun decorations for the fall/halloween season. I guess since we're about to move into our home (we'll be first time homeowners in about a week!), I've had the crafty "itch".

I started off with these cute candy corn, or as my adorable 3 year old niece calls them, "tandy torn"! She walked in the house the other day and exclaimed that to her grandma (Michael's mom). She was so curious as to why there was candy on the mantel. Guess that's a compliment to me how well they turned out because she thought they were real. Okay, maybe that's a stretch for the imagination of a 3 year old, but it was cute nonetheless. She was a little saddened to find out they were only made of wood and paint. :)

  My wonderful hubby used a circular saw to cut the triangles, then my sis-in-law Janessa showed me how to use a jigsaw to round the corners. I then sanded and painted these cuties to my heart's content. It took a little while because I may have "accidentally" painted orange on the bottom at the beginning. Thanks to my bro-in-law Leland who thought that something looked weird, then proceeded to laugh heartily and repeatedly throughout the night as I white washed the entire thing to make up for the mistake. Oops! :) In the end, they turned out quite cute and adorable. They fit perfectly on a fireplace mantel or a side table!

 This past weekend my friend Dani and I decided we needed another craft to occupy our time while the boys were at the General Priesthood Meeting for Conference. So, Dani found this cute idea from the internet (not sure where) and we went to work. Michael cut out the boards before he left. (I'm still afraid to use a circular saw. Maybe I'll conquer that fear someday?) 

The rest was pretty simple as all it requires is some paint and a bit of free-handing the faces. Not too shabby for a girl who can draw stick figures and that is about it, if I do say so myself! After the pain dried, I just hot glued burlap onto the cute mummy's body and used dowels to secure the boards to the bottom. Pretty easy, no?

I still think this needs something, like maybe painting purple stripes on the base. There's plenty of black, I think it could benefit from one more pop of Halloween color. What do you think? Any fun crafts you've been doing this year to get into the Fall spirit?

Unlikely and Unusual

Just a little something to show you how the wedding reception went down this past weekend. Erika of DRY Ink Photography was there to take some rather interesting pictures in a makeshift photo booth. As you can see, our little group of 4 took advantage of the props and you now have this picture before you.

I can't begin to imagine what kind of story could be created from this photo. Michael is the guitar playing "Dick Tracy" type. I'm a makeshift matador/amigo. Morgan looks Californian and almost Jason Mraz-ish. And Hunter is the happily lost looking pilot from one of the World Wars.

I love this photo so much because it's our entire crew of crazy people that drove over 27 hours from Utah to Louisiana for the blessed event. I think our expressions and costumes accurately depict what a week's worth of driving, eating on the road, sleeping on air mattresses/futons, and getting in a fight with a bunch of bamboo will do to you.

In the words of Morgan, Michael, Hunter and me as we constantly repeated to stay awake..."Yeehaw. Oh dear, DEER! Blah blah blah. There once was a farmer...sweet violets! Dang straight. Yeeeah Girl, You know! Roll Tide." (That last statement was in reference to Alabama, but from Hunter, not myself. Geaux Tigers.)

Crisis in the Gulf

Here's a little Cajun humor for those of you who know and understand the South. If you've never heard a Cajun accent, maybe you've seen "The Princess and the Frog". When you read this, think of Ray Ray the Firefly :)

Boudreaux suddenly quit drinking, took a bath, quit chasing women, quit his poker games and started laying around. He started cutting the grass around the church, even painted it and was faithful to be first to attend on Sundays! Father Thibodeaux asked him what about dis wonderful change that had done overtook him. Boudreaux explained, "I heard "Crisis in the Gulf" and if He's dat close, I wanna be good to go!

In the Jungle

This is a video that my dear friend Camille (who is on a mission in Peurto Rico) and I made while having lunch in Cafe Rio a few years back. I'd forgotten about it until tonight. It brings such a smile to my face of how much fun Camille and I always have together. Now, I know some of you might not appreciate this, but there will be others who COMPLETELY understand. Either way, it's funny and silly and I LOVE IT. Hope you enjoy this little glimpse into what musicians, specifically singers, do in their spare time or while lunching in public. :)

The Death of Michael's Shag

How did we start off Memorial Day this year?
By giving Michael a haircut!

He was a little distressed after working for about 6 months to get his hair so long!

Yes, there was a bit of a mullet in the process.

Getting closer to the end...

Oops, we forgot one long strand. He looks kind of like an emo punk.

It's all gone!

Look at all that hair. We cut off about 4 inches worth...yuck!

Cleaning up the mess. Looking like a "Molly Mormon". What a great day!

My Friend Arianne

Let me tell you something about this amazing woman.

She performed her Senior Vocal Recital on Wednesday night.
{It was BEAUTIFUL}

She tackled the florid Rossini, made Brahms proud while singing his "Von ewiger Liebe", and once again, amazed us all with "Chi il bel Sogno di Doretta" from Puccini's La Rondine.
I got chills, not once, but several times.

And to think she was nervous. Psh...you would've never known!

She's a dear dear friend of mine, a fellow double Vocal Performance/Music Therapy major, and I'm glad she's in my life.

A few fun things to know about her:

She has chronic hiccups.
She giggles a lot, which makes me giggle daily.
She is married to Tyler, who is adorable and perfect for her.
She is a talented and smart musician.
She is a good study partner.
She knows what girl time is all about.
She is the best friend a girl could have.

I just LOVE her!

Something to make you laugh

Car Stories

As some of you may know, I was in a car accident on Thursday, October 1st. I was heading home from my usual commute to USU in Logan, and was rear ended by a guy in a big truck at the overpass before entering I-15 from Brigham City. The traffic stopped suddenly and I was able to stop just a mere 7-8 inches short of the car in front of me. Sadly, the guy behind me was not. Brakes screeched and a loud crunch and shattering sound occurred as my entire trunk was crushed in and my back window blown out. Glass flew everywhere and even my sunglasses were knocked off my face.

I saw it coming too, which was, of course, not the best thing as I tensed in anticipation of the crash. I remember thinking, "Oh great, this is going to be a HARD hit!" And it was...I expect he slammed into me around 40 mph as the speed limit drops from 55 to 30 in that area, yet nobody follows it. So, I was pushed into the car in front of me and sandwiched between the two. The nice man who hit me said he looked away for a second then realized we were all stopped and by that time it was too late. I suffered some serious whiplash for a few days after and thankfully drugs helped me in that respect.

I am so lucky to have a husband who rushed all the way from his work in SLC to Brigham (over 1 hour drive, following the law ;) in order to be by my side and bring me to the ER and back home. My mother also left her work early so that I wouldn't have to be alone until Michael arrived. I was definitely taken care of.

As for the car, it is totaled and we are desperately on the hunt for a "new" car to replace it. Ole' Henry (that was my car's name) was worth more to me that anybody can really put a price tag on. But thankfully, the guy who hit me had insurance and is able to pay for a rental for me for 2 weeks while we search for another car. Also, we just received info that our settlement for the car is quite a bit more than we expected. I think the Lord is looking after us. Michael even said that this is great because "now we get to buy a new car!!!" Chuckle chuckle.

I'm going to miss my little car, he was the first one I learned to drive stick shift on,



he was also the recipient of accidental window painting by some confused girls on my 20th birthday [super funny story].



And Henry was attacked on my 21st birthday by Michael while I was at church, being covered in window paint and streamers and filled with about 50 green balloons.

And one of the best things was that he was given to me completely FREE by a sweet couple who were about to go on their mission! We've had some good times, yet it is time to move on and hopefully buy a Subaru. [Love it for the All-Wheel Drive in the snow]


And for my next story, I locked my keys in my rental car today. Yes, that's right. I am officially a locking-keys-in-the-car ditz.
I say this because it has happened 3 times in the last year. First, at Beaver Mountain while Michael and I were up there snowboarding and I locked his keys in Gator (his car). Second, the night Michael and I got engaged, I locked my keys in Henry while we were freezing our bottoms off in the snow up Green Canyon. And now, I've outdone myself as I locked myself out of my RENTAL car. And the spare key was on the regular key ring in the car. So, I payed $40 to a locksmith who of course only had to take 2 seconds to unlock the car with his special tools. I think I'm glutton for punishment or cursed or something. Never a dull moment with me, that's for sure. Good thing we can laugh at all this!

ICON Lagoon Night

I think that this picture perfectly sums up our night of fun at the Annual ICON Health and Fitness Lagoon Night!

Each year, employees and their families are invited for dinner, dessert, and general mayhem at a discounted price for an entire evening, as the park is closed off for only ICON itself. Since my mother works there, Michael and I were able to go this year and have a night of great fun! [Btw, that's our friend Spencer in the above picture with Michael. His fiancee's mother works at ICON and we spent the entire evening playing with their family!]

I'm afraid that in all our excitement, we forgot to take lots of pictures. So, here are some of our favorites from when it was still daylight!

This is for FRIGHTMARES which starts in the next week or so.....thought it was funny!

Michael rode this ride, which I refused as I quickly knew that I would become sick and in the next picture you'll see why.

Recipe for disaster on my side, but laughs for Michael! He really loved it.

And, of course, we had to ride the bumper cars...twice. They are classic.

We also rode all the rollercoasters, including Wicked, which is such a rush. I love the straight down free-falling feel. And every time I ride Colossus, I'm reminded of my first rollercoaster experience which was on that exact rollercoaster!

But I must say, one of my favorite parts of the entire evening was being able to ride in a "couples seat" on the big swing-type ride. It was cute and sweet, letting our feet just hang and laughing like little kids. We always have fun together.

A sleepwalking/talking husband...

I meant to mention this story last week, but it completely slipped my mind. Now you will be able to have the pleasure of getting another glimpse into our lives through my telling you of a situation that occurred last week upon our return from Lake Powell.

I was sleeping soundly and hard as a rock when all of a sudden, I was awoken by Michael reaching over, grabbing my arm, and yanking me up into a sitting position on the bed. A bit confused and frustrated, I turned to him and said, "What are you doing?!? What's the matter?!?"

He replied, "You fell off the boat and into the water, so I had to reach in and pull you out!"

I told him, "We aren't on the water and we're no longer at Lake Powell on a boat! We're at home in our bed! Goodness, can we go back to sleep?"

He said, "Okay", layed back down, rolled over, and went to sleep.

Funny experience of my night and week. It has grown to be more and more hilarious the more I think about it. I always knew he was a sleepwalker/talker but this is by far the most extreme thing he has ever done during sleeping hours. [Apart from the one incident during our first month of marriage when he got up and showered at 1 a.m. because he thought it was 7, tee hee.]

Sweet Michael, he just has such a vivid imagination, and for some reason it really loves to manifest itself in interesting ways while others are sleeping. Usually it's just gibberish that he speaks or something about computers and databases, but other times, I am delighted to experience even more fun!

Drive-In Double Feature Date

Michael and I enjoyed a fun date on Friday night as we traveled to Ogden to see a double feature of G.I. Joe and Transformers 2 at the Drive-In!

This is Michael making a silly face on our way. I told him to show me how excited he was for the Drive-In, and just like him, he became all silly. Typical. I married a silly boy. This is my excited face and Michael's finger poking my cheek. Again, silliness!
Pulling up to the entrance as dusk was setting in...Our sweet set-up in the back of "Gator", Michael's Subaru. Seats folded down with blankets and pillows ready for some nice lounging!!!
I had to take a picture of Michael filling the back with all our yummy goods for movie entertainment.
Yes, that's a pizza. And that wasn't all that we munched on...we had popcorn, Twizzlers, grapes, and Peanut M&Ms. Perfect movie snacks!
It's almost time for the movie to start. See how happy we are? Little did we know the hours ahead of us, and the fact that the 2nd movie wouldn't end until around 1:30 am!
View of the screen and our "sweet spot". We threw a frisbee around here for a bit while the sun set.
I think this smile on Michael's face sums up our night. Goodness, I sure have a cute husband!

Puns are my favorite!!!

THE POTATO STORY

Well, Girl Potato and Boy Potato had eyes for each other, and finally they got married, and had a little sweet potato, which they called 'Yam.'
Of course, they wanted the best for Yam.
When it was time, they told her about the facts of life.
They warned her about going out and getting half-baked, so she wouldn't get accidentally mashed, and get a bad name for herself like 'Hot Potato,' and end up with a bunch of Tater Tots
Yam said not to worry, no Spud would get her into the sack and make a rotten potato out of her!
But on the other hand she wouldn't stay home and become a Couch Potato either
She would get plenty of exercise so as not to be skinny like her Shoestring cousins.
When she went off to Europe, Mr and Mrs. Potato told Yam to watch out for the hard-boiled guys from Ireland.
And the greasy guys from France called the French Fries. And when she went out west, to watch out for the Indians so she wouldn't get scalloped.
Yam said she would stay on the straight and narrow and wouldn't associate with those high class Yukon Golds, or the ones from the other side of the tracks who advertise their trade on all the trucks that say, 'Frito Lay.'
Mr. and Mrs. Potato sent Yam to Idaho P.U. (that's Potato University ) so that when she graduated she'd really be in the Chips.
But in spite of all they did for her, one-day Yam came home and announced she was going to marry Tom Brokaw.

Tom Brokaw!

Mr. and Mrs. Potato were very upset.
They told Yam she couldn't possibly marry Tom Brokaw because he's just......

A COMMONTATER