Halloween Dinner for the Kids - Take 6

We didn't do the Halloween Dinner for the kids last year, but we were back at it this year. It wasn't quite as epic as the last Halloween dinner we did, but it was still good and better yet, tasted good. I feel like this year my addition to the meal was the biggest let down. I knew Kristy was making Spaghetti and we didn't need to bring dessert so I couldn't really think of anything to bring that would go with the dinner... except breadstick bones. So that is what I brought. Except that my breadsticks didn't end up looking that much like bones. Oh well... they tasted good. They all got eaten up quickly. Hopefully next year I will have a better contribution to make up for this year.

Kristy's Spaghetti monsters were really cute... and tastey.

Chad and Clara brought jello brain.

My dad cut a jack-o-lantern into the watermelon... which HAD to be tough.

My mom brought a cute pumpkin veggie tray and the highlight (I thought) the day of the dead fruit pumpkin! It also made for a great Center Piece.

Kristy also made her witch fingers again.

It is a fun tradition and I am glad the Kristy includes the rest of us in the tradition. Halloween day (today) I am still at work. Been here since 8am and probably won't leave until 1am. Fun stuff... I know. Not that I had any fun parties to go to, but I really like Halloween and love dressing up and am kind of bummed when I don't get to. Last year I didn't either. Looks like I need more friends. This year I didn't have a choice with work. I'm glad that I at least got to celebrate a little by this fun dinner with the family and Witches night out with Heather on Saturday. Happy Halloween.

Witches Night Out

Saturday I went with my cousin's wife Heather to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village. Gardner Village is just a little village of shops/boutiques and craft stores and food shops and there is a restaurant and theater... so they have lots of different events throughout the year at the village. This is one of their biggest. They have 2 weekends in the month where TONS of people all come to the village dressed as witches. They had food trucks and music and dancing and of course... you shop. Heather and I mostly just wanted to go to dress up and go... do something different and fun. I had always wanted to go and finally was going to.


A few weekends ago we met up at the mall and we shopped for a hat and tights. Later Heather bought a bunch of tool so that we could make tutu's before we went. That was my vision anyway of the cute witch I wanted to be and I told her what colors to get. So we made them and then headed to the party.

I was shocked how crowded it was. It started at 6 and went until 11pm. We didn't buy much. We both got a top... and I probably wouldn't have gotten mine if my cousin Dave didn't tell Heather to buy me something. Then I bought a pumpkin spice trifle. That was it. Other than that we just walked around. We had fun chatting. It was fun to people watch and to see everyone's different version of a witch. I liked our's the best. ha ha.

It was fun. So glad that Heather wanted to go. We should have out more often... especially since I don't have many other friends to hang out with these days... especially since I just lost my newest friend (who was supposed to come with us) to a boyfriend. Oh well, such is life. Cousins are great and they stick around. So hopefully more of this in the future.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 347

It's confessions day again. The weeks seem to go by so quickly. Remember when you were a kid and time seemed to go by so much slower. Why is that? Is it because you don't have to worry about as much and are just having fun? Don't have work and responsibilities? I mean... you stay busy... but it's a different kind of busy than when you are an adult. As an adult it just seems like the years just fly by and you look back on a picture and think... what? That was 10 years ago? Where did the time go? At the same time... I look at pictures during different times of my life and feel like I have lived a bunch of different lives that don't flow together because of being single for so long and so many people coming and going from my life. It's kind of strange actually. Besides loneliness and longing for companionship from a relationship of a spouse... I think the hardest part of being single for me is not having any consistent people in my life. Of course that is the beauty of family right? They are always there, but it is kind of not the same once you are adult because all of my siblings have families of their own... so I have made friends in my life my family... but they don't stick around and I get hurt and feel abandoned. Like even my newest friend that I was so excited to have. All of the sudden she got a boyfriend and I was out of the picture with the snap of a finger. It's hard for me to have to go through that over and over and over again... so the older I get, the more I start to see myself close off from people, which isn't good. A lot of people my age do it. I understand why... because I do it, but I think it takes a tole on all of us.

Speaking of family... a lot of this last week has been with family, which has been nice. I blogged about the big surprise birthday bash that we threw for Kristy and Jess. Friday after my trainer, I spent the rest of the night with my sister's Jamie and Lori decorating the house and blowing up balloons and trying to get as much done for the party as we could. Saturday all day was the same. Prepping... until we went to go pick them up for the series of events. It was such a fun and action packed day. So fun to go from one activity to the next. I think what made it even more fun is that my family NEVER does this sort of thing. I think because of that, it made the day that much more special. Even though I live in Provo, I got to do some fun activities that I hadn't done before. Now I can say I have done Get Out Games and FastKart Speedway. So fun. And the party with the kids was a blast too. I really just love my family. Everyone is great and I enjoy spending time with everyone. I wish it happened more often, but that being said, I think that everyone has made an effort to be there when it counts and to all be together once a year it seems. So that is great.

Sunday Jamie and Dan and kids left to go home, but Lori and family was still in town and we all had dinner at Kristy's house after church. My parents kitchen is being remodeled, so we will be at Kristy's house for probably a month before going back to my parents house. Of course I will be gone for part of that.

I can't believe my trip is coming up so fast. I guess I did also buy my plane ticket a month before my trip which makes it a lot shorter to wait... but still. I always feel a little nervous when I am doing long flights out of the country by myself. I know it will be fine, but it is just nice to have a travel companion you know? Especially my way back... it will be pretty miserable. But it of course will be worth it in the end. I of course have no plans for when I get there and it won't feel like I am actually going until I am on the plane there... but it is happening... and it is happening soon.

Monday is when my crazy work schedule started. Let me tell you... it hasn't been very fun. It's been pretty exhausting working at least 12 hours everyday, if not more. It has sucked all of my energy that I have. They didn't even want me working out with my trainer this week so that I would not leave work. So I had to switch my last week with my trainer to the first week of November. It will be hard week with not only not being able to work out with my trainer, but eating junk everyday... because that is what we do during quarter end. They feed us so we won't leave. Ha ha... it's good food, I just feel like crap by the end of the week because I usually eat a lot healthier and exercise more. I have been doing the best I can though. Doing what I need to do to stay on top of everything. Work and my health. After work on Monday I went to go hang out with my family and say goodbye to Lori and family since they were leaving the next day. It was nice to hang out with the family after a long day at work.

The rest of this week... honestly, I have just been working. Trying to at least get to the gym on my lunch break... but working working working and then I get home between 8 and 10. Fun right? Not only do I have to stay on top of my regular work which doubled when I was the only one left doing it, but I have a massive project with a deadline as well. I'm getting it done... like a boss. It will be nice when they hire someone else and I can start to train them knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Not that I can't handle it... because I can and I am... but you know, I want to feel ok about taking my vacation. ha ha. I am going to be SO ready for this vacation. 2 weeks off is MUCH needed right now. :)

Photo of the Week 345

Another shot from the hike to Silver Lake.

Jess & Kristy's 40th Surprise Birthday Party

Yesterday, Kristy and Jess turned 40. It's not the most exciting age to turn and they planned on ignoring the birthday, but the family had other plans. Lori and Jamie starting talking and thought that 40 was not a birthday that should be ignored and that we should do a surprise birthday party for them. I was of course all in. What a great idea!

The idea was thrown out to the group in the summer and that is when the planning started. However it really came together just a couple weeks before the party. And the entire thing was almost ruined when we found out that Jess had drill that day (this last Saturday) so we had to let him in on some of the surprise so that he could get home. It all worked out in the end though... thankfully.

Friday night Jamie and Lori were both in town and had been working on the party all day. I had to work (and work has been stressful) so I didn't help as much as I would have liked to, but I helped as much as I could. Friday night I was at my parents house helping blow up balloons... I saw "the plan" on the chalk board and got a picture of Billy going over the plan with my dad. I thought it was great.

My idea and big contribution to the party was the black & white photo's that I put on the wall in the shape of 40. There ended up being a lot of extra pictures, so we put them around the birthday sign that Jamie made and on the table.

My parents rented "The party bus" and Lori and Billy decorated the inside and out.. I brought my lights to put up inside the van which was fun. We didn't ride too many places, but it made it fun to all be together in a party van.

They started their surprise with a scavenger hunt that everyone worked on together and we had Reanne and Sierra take them on... so they didn't know we were involved. That is something Reanne and Sierra would do, so Kristy thought it was just them being cute... until one of their clue's lead them to birthday shirts that Jamie made for them. They put them on and then their next clue was to look for the party bus that we were all in. When they found us we all came out of the van and surprised them and said happy birthday. Get in the van!

We were taking them to several places. They were each supposed to be a surprise, but Reanne ruined the first one. Ha ha... As she got out of the car said, "Have fun at Get Out Games" ha ha... oh well. So, first stop was Get out Games. Kristy had been before, but had been wanting to go again with adults. Jess had never been before. Heck, I hadn't been yet. So that was a fun way to start. We were put in the Egyptian room and we made it out before the hour was up. We had 2 minutes left to be exact, but I don't think we would have finished if we didn't have a lot of help from staff at the end. I don't know if anyone could honestly. It was fun though!

Next we were off to Jess and Kristy's favorite restaurant, the Bombay house! I love it too. Great Indian food. Chad and Clara joined in on this one. So it was nice to have the entire family together... even just for an hour.

Then it was off to FastKart Speedway to race each other in Speed Go Karts. None of us had done this before, so it was new for all of us... which was fun. We sadly were not all on the same track... but we all had a great time racing.

Then it was back to my parents house for the party with the kids. While we were gone, the kids had made themselves and all of us birthday party hats. We had a Photo Booth that I set up with props. We had cake that Jamie and Lori made in the shape of 40. A lemon one for Kristy and chocolate one for Jess. Jamie also made the cutest birthday card that we all signed. At the end they opened the 40 little gifts that we all pitched in to get them.

Pretty much an epic birthday party. We all get to enjoy it with the birthday couple. So fun that Jamie and Lori and families made it extra special by putting it on and coming into town to celebrate. The entire family isn't together very often, so it is extra special when we are. I love my family. They are the best. Super creative and thoughtful and fun. So glad we could all make Jess and Kristy's birthday extra special, because they sure deserve it. Love them and everyone in the family! What a special day.

Pumpkin Dinner Party - Take 8

Can you believe I have been doing pumpkin dinner parties for 8 years now? I guess I like my traditions. Last year was the first year I didn't do the dinner at my house. Well, this year I decided it would be even BETTER if we did it in the mountains. I know... ambitious. Over the weekend I searched for a spot that I liked and hoped that come Thursday evening... nobody would be using it. Which I lucked out and nobody was.

I brought everything up the canyon in my car and my friends helped me set the table and put up the lights. It was so great. Lindsay was nice enough to bring firewood and start a little fire next to the table... to give it a nice fall, cozy feel. It was perfect. I loved my table set up this year. The best out of all the years so far. I feel like every year I top the previous year, but I don't know how I will top this year. I even made everyone leaf name tags. ha ha.

After dinner we hung out by the fire for a bit and chatted and burned our pumpkin bowls.

The entire thing just made me so happy and my friends love it so much too which makes me even more happy and we love getting together and don't do it enough... so it is a fun excuse to get us all together. Love my crew and my traditions that I have started. LOVE!