happy halloween
this is the one and only pumpkin we've carved together (thanks for the picture danica!)
go dodgers!

thoughts

i have been sick, sick, sick. i think my class's cold, rainy trip to the pumpkin patch did me in. nate thinks it is kind of ridiculous how much i've gotten sick lately, but what can i say? i work in a germ-infested environment a.k.a with children. even though i'm obsessed with purell it feels like i still pick up whatever sickness is going around.

with some extra time for lounging around on my hands, i've been looking at way too many beautiful crafty blogs and wishing that i had a million extra hours in the day to do more with my time. do blogs do this to you too? sometimes instead of getting inspired or enjoying great ideas, i feel awful about myself. i feel like i am uncreative, i have no sense of design or style, and why can't i be super woman too? i don't even have children yet! and then i mentally have to slap myself in the face and remember what's important in life. so, here's to being creative in ways i have time for...like planning an objective-driven lesson for preschoolers that they will actually pay attention to, or improvising with what's in our bare pantry for dinner, or writing a legit five-page paper thirty minutes before it's due. creativity takes many forms, even if i don't have time to refinish furniture and sew my own fall dress.

that's all. time for nap.

now the colors are really here

when we woke up yesterday, it was like the leaves had turned over night. the colors are gorgeous! i'm hoping and wishing and really hoping that this weather will stay until my family comes for thanksgiving...

downtown and gray

i'm in a collage-y mood.

la vie en rose

for all the hard things about my job, that happen in life, that happen in marriage, that happen to our families and to our friends, and that are going on in the world, i could write all day about how good life is. one of my favorite authors said this:

"there are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them sufficient."
i turned a year older this weekend.
i feel like an adult now, complete with responsibility, life insurance, and a job.
moving here has been good for me. i'm getting to know and understand myself better.
i was thrown out of my comfort zone and i'm adjusting. i like it.
my perfect day ended with my favorite things.

this and this.

ladies night

i skipped school on thursday night for a girls' night out at the melting pot.
best.decision.ever.

this is what we did the whole time.

the aftermath.

these nights are good for the soul. i think we should make this a monthly occurence.

count me in...i love hockey

one of the perks of working for a large company is box seats. nate happened upon an email at work offering extra tickets to the chicago blackhawks vs. the calgary flames game, and we ended up getting them!

nate spent his high school years in calgary, so he rooted for the flames. i just went for the fights, which were awesome. hockey is way more fun to watch in person than on tv.

the best part of the night, besides the fighting obviously, was the dessert cart that came after dinner. any dessert you could think of. all yours. two or three or ten desserts if you wanted. in the last period of the game, the hot cocoa cart came to warm us up. delish.

the blackhawks won in the first minute of overtime. it was my first professional hockey game and first time in a box. i'm sold. i like this sport!

more than amazing

you should really check out this video on my little brother chandler's blog

{pass the pumpkin please}

oh fall. you are just an excuse for me to make anything edible requiring pumpkin and for my house to smell like pumpkin spice all day everyday. i've already made pumpkin muffins and cookies. twice. this weekend i'm tackling pumpkin banana bread. mmm.

sometimes i miss you utah valley

the husband took off for utah to recruit for his company, be at a byu game in person, and see people who i miss way too much. we tried to swing it so that i could go too, but remember how i told you about the harsh working world? no vacation days until i've been working for six months. apparently that's normal (what?!) and i just never knew.

anyway, the worst part is that i miss this little niece (and her parents) a lot.

and now i'll go watch a chick flick and drink hot chocolate.