Can't it be Summer?

But just for a day or two...

I finished my summer quilt Saturday night and I want to use it, dangit!

I had to make the bed with it just to see how it looked.

At least I'm ready for next summer!

Cougar Saturday

On Saturday, Game Day came to Provo for the big game against TCU. It was the first time that Game Day has ever come to Provo, so it was a big deal. We were running in the Cougar Run, but we stopped by for a few minutes. It was pretty crazy!

Proof that we were there.

I've run in the Cougar Run every year I've lived in Provo (except for last year because I was still recovering from my surgery). It was my first race ever. This year it was the last of 26 miles of races (more on this later). Phew! I was glad I could accomplish my goal.

Later that night, the game didn't exactly go as we had hoped. Emily is mad and I am sad. As long as we beat Utah it won't matter.

And thus ended our Cougar Saturday. Better luck next time, Cougs!

Carving Pumpkins

Friday night we had the Pughs over for some Halloween fun. Emily arrived with a box of brownie mix and announced that she was going to teach me how to make brownies. Love her! They did turn out well under her supervision. Maybe some day I'll be brave enough to try them on my own again.

Then the girls carved our pumpkins while the guys sat on the couch and flipped channels.

Emily with her masterpiece.

And mine. It's a scary black cat!

After we carved our pumpkins we watched Wait Until Dark - an old, but good scary movie with Audrey Hepburn playing a blind lady.

In other Halloween news, I ordered Garfield's Holiday Celebrations (includues the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Garfield Specials) on half.com yesterday. Hopefully it will get here in time for Halloween - it was a favorite of mine growing up!

Also, I don't know what Rog and I are going to be for Halloween. Suggestions are welcome!

The On-Going Battle

Rog doesn't see the need to make our bed in the morning. I, of course, disagree. For one of his classes he was supposed to make a goal and follow through with it. Being the sweet husband that he is, he made a goal to help me more. So now he makes the bed every morning. But he insists on putting the pillows this way.

I, however, would prefer they went this way. (Or at least that they were both the same way - be it horizontal or vertical.)

I guess you take what you can get! :)

Pumpkin Hunting

On Tuesday we went with our ward to the Red Barn in Santaquin to find us the perfect pumpkin. The search started with a hayride to the pumpkin patch.



There were so many pumpkins to choose from! You'll have to wait until we (and by we, I mean I) carve it to see which pumpkin we chose. (Rog lost his pumpkin carving privileges a few years ago when he attempted a whale that didn't turn out so well at all.)

Happy fall everyone!

Capitol Reef/Goblin Valley

This weekend we visited the fifth National Park in Utah - Capitol Reef. We went with my family and had a great time. It was especially nice to stay in a motel with beds, showers, tv, the internet, and a continental breakfast instead of our usual tent experience.



Obviously Capitol Reef has beautiful scenery because it is a National Park, but much more unique and amazing is Goblin Valley State Park. We had to drive 1 1/2 hours each way to get there (it's out in the middle of nowhere), but it was totally worth it! It was seriously the best part of the trip! Put this on the top of your list of things to do in Utah... You won't be disappointed!



One of the things that makes it so cool is that you can walk around, explore, and even climb on the goblins!

It was a very relaxing weekend which was much needed. Work was pretty brutal last week and this week will be even worse. Ugh, couldn't we have stayed a little longer?!

Tetris

I NEED A HOUSE!

Don't get me wrong. We love where we live. We've been married almost 2 1/2 years and we've lived in this apartment the whole time. And I know we've got it pretty good as far as storage goes... But recently I have found myself playing tetris with our stuff a lot more than I have in the past.

A few weeks ago I stocked up on corn, diced tomatoes, refried beans, black beans, etc... at the Macey's Case Lot sale and then the other day I bought a huge thing of toilet paper from Costco (only our third time buying it since being married). When I got home, Rog looked at me like I was crazy and asked where in the world we were going to store it. I, being the master of tetris that I am, got everything to fit in our magical closet.

This closet isn't just an ordinary closet. It's a garage, coat closet, linen closet, craft room, laundry room, and pantry all in one!

In this closet you will find: a picnic basket, a grilling set, a cooler, 3 baseball mitts, 2 hula hoops, a snowboard, 2 72 hour kits, a broom, a mop, a vacuum, 2 rotating fans, ties, an apron, my Letterman's jacket from high school, various other articles of clothing. And that's just one half...

On the other side you will find: a drill, drill bits, tools, soil (yes, you read that right, soil for my plant), paint, various liquids for our cars, extra towels, all of my craft and sewing supplies, water bottles, an iron, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, a lantern, batteries, extra wood blocks, many many cans of food (including approximately 36 cans of cream of chicken soup), 25 lbs sugar, 25 lbs flour, 48 rolls of toilet paper, snow clothes, framed pictures we don't have wall space for, our laundry basket for dirty towels, and much much more.

And that's just one closet. Yes my friends, I need a house or at least an apartment with more than one bedroom. It's amazing the stuff you can accumulate in 2 1/2 years! And we do use all of this stuff... Amazing, I know!

Running for the Stars 5K

On Saturday I ran in the Running for the Stars 5K - a 5K to raise money for leprosy in India. It was a very small run (as in the number of people who ran in it) at least compared to other races I've run. It was a very pretty run up Provo Canyon.

I convinced Emily and Zack to run in it with me because Rog was taking a test during the race.

My time was AWESOME for me - especially considering I haven't been training all that much (I've been doing more swimming than running these days) and half of it was uphill. I did it in 24:40! My PR on a 5K is 23:04, but this summer most of my 5K runs have been more in the 25:00 range. So I was way happy with 24:40! I was 21st overall and 2nd in my division (females 20-29)!

They had a breakfast after. Here we are chowing down on french toast.

Thanks Emily and Zack for running with me!

Wooden Pumpkins

For October's craft night we made wooden pumpkins. I got the idea here. Here are the directions.

You will need: a 2x4 cut to desired length (I did 8-inch and 5-inch blocks), sand paper, ribbon, rafia, paint, paint brush, scissors, wood glue, tree branch.



1. Sand the block as desired.

2. Paint the block. Sand the edges to give it a antique look if desired.

3. Cut the branch and glue it to the block.

4. Wrap the ribbon and rafia around the branch. I just tied them, but you could glue them in place if you want.

Super easy and very cute!

Canning Part 2

This Monday Emily joined me for Canning Part 2 at the Phillips' apartment. We made yummy peach pie filling. I cannot stress how much easier it was with two people! We had an assembly line going... I would peel the peaches and Emily would slice them. We had those babies done in no time! And Rog informed me that they looked better when Emily cut them. Thanks hun! Apparently I am retarded at slicing peaches. Who knew?!



(Don't mind my wrinkly apron. I stuffed it in the laundry basket after my first night of canning.)

The finished product. I decided to do mostly pint jars because I plan on using the peach pie filling as a topping for waffles, pancakes, ice cream, cheesecake, etc... And I figured we wouldn't need a whole quart at a time!