Happy Halloween!

Every year the coaches at the Rose Bowl dress up together for our swim team Halloween party. This is us last year dressed up as the Scooby Doo Gang.

Stay tuned to see what we are doing this year!

Visitors!

A couple weeks ago Jessica came to visit me while Andrew was out of town working. It was so great to see her and Brady again, and even better to have someone to hang out with in my lonely apartment. We had a lot of fun while she was here. We spent a lot of time out shopping. We also went to the park and met with a few other moms and their kids. Brady found this giant soccer ball that he loved playing with.

We took some time to be a little crafty. Jessica made a cute Christmas sign and I made this Halloween decoration. Sorry, you will have to turn your head to look at it.

While our apartment wasn't quite "Brady-proof" I think he had a fun time. He loved sitting in this new little rocking chair we have.

It was so fun to have them here. Jessica was great and made me breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. I think I'm okay with Andrew going out of town as long as they come back to visit!

Thanks for keeping me company!

2nd best thing

A couple weeks ago when Andrew was working in Tulsa, I got a cute little package delivered to my door:

And you can guess how I excited I was to open it and find these:

If I can't have Andrew home, at least I can have cupcakes!

They were absolutely delicious. Isn't he sweet?

This is how I kill spiders when Andrew's not home:

(The tissue is stuffed into the top so that the spider cannot crawl out. The vacuum is also placed in the bathroom in case the spider does somehow crawl through the vacuum and gets past the wad of tissue.)

Farewell Project Runway!

Last Wednesday was the season finale of Project Runway. Being the huge fan that I am, I decided to throw a party! Jessica was in town, so it was perfect timing to have her there so people could also stop by and say hi.

In honor of the host, Heidi Klum, we had german chocolate cupcakes and rootbeer floats!
It was a fun night, and all of the designers clothes were great!

Despite the horrible attitude, I still loved Kenley. I really loved her wedding dress (whether it was a copycat or not)

And I really liked this dress by her too.
Korto was pretty good. I think this was my favorite dress of hers.
Even though Joe didn't make it to the finale, I am kind of loving this dress.
But in the end, Leanne won it all. Her line was pretty amazing, although I thought it was all too similar and didn't have enough variety in style or color. Here was her wedding dress:
I did love this dress though.

I can't wait for the next season!

Yay!

I love shoes ... especially when they are free!

I just can't decide between the pink or the grey laces. And no, I will not wear one of each. What do you think?

Baptisms and Birthdays

In September we headed back to Utah for my nephew, Kadin's baptism. Kadin had asked me to play the piano and then asked Andrew to "be one of those people that watch things and write them down" (a witness). We were excited that he had asked us to be a part of his big day. Kaylee, my niece, sang beautifully and I wish I had it on video to post here.

Here we are with Kadin after he was baptized. We are so proud of him and the decision that he made:

Here is the big group of family and friends that were there:
After the baptism we all went over to Greg and Jonyce's for Kadin's birthday party. The night before I had made this cake for him. Kadin loves to play soccer and he is doing so well at it!

It was a fun party with great food and lots of presents. Rachel and Kaylee were anxious to help him open his presents.
Andrew was kept busy pushing Rachel around. She loved it!
The next day we celebrated Heather's birthday at my parents house. Kaylee and Rachel had fun with their horses.
Heather was excited for her gluten free pizza crust and cookies. (Again, notice how Rachel is always around when there are presents nearby!)
The day before I left I went miniature golfing with my mom, Kadin and Kaylee. We had a lot of fun and they even let me win!

A few weeks later (after we had already gone home) Rachel was finally able to celebrate her own birthday and open her own presents!

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Malibu!

A few weeks ago I went with some friends to a beach in Malibu. We had heard that the beaches were a little nicer out there, so we wanted to go and check them out. Unfortunately that day they were having a surfing competition, so we had to walk pretty far down the beach just to find a place to swim. It was the perfect day for the beach though. We technically were still not supposed to be swimming where we were at, but we still got in the water to cool off for a little while. We spent a lot of time just relaxing on the sand and watching this little cutie, June, play in the sand.
Just as we were leaving this big patch of fog rolled in. It was really interesting to watch it completely envelope the beach that we were on. You can kind of see it in this picture.

After playing at the beach we went to lunch at Duke's. We had all heard how great it was and it did not dissapoint. It is a cute little place right on the beach, with the most amazing view. I had a delicious chicken sandwich with the most amazing criss-cut fries. Yummy!
(Natalie, me, Laney, Erica, Yuka)

Oh Deer!

Look what was outside the Jarvis' house in Utah the last time we were there ...

Can you see it? Look a little closer!
A 10 point buck! Just hanging out, curled up in the shade right by the house. It didn't like us looking at it, so it got up and walked up their rock pathway ...
... and found a new place to sit.
Joe wanted to shoot it. (how horrible!) But Andrew eventually scared it away, but then it came back a couple hours later. I guess it had found a new happy home.

Lady of the Angels

A couple weeks ago I went with my friends Laney and Yuka to the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. It is a really beautiful and interesting building. We went on a Wednesday because they have weekly Organ concerts that day. The day that we went they were actually doing an organ demonstration rather than a concert. The organ sounded beautiful. It weighs forty-two tons and has a total of six thousand and nineteen pipes! You could feel the room shake as it was played.

We then took a free tour of the building. Here are some great pics that Laney took while we were there:

This is the front of the building. The Cathedral is located right next to the Hollywood Freeway (101). Many European Cathedrals are built near rivers, and the architect considered the freeway as "Los Angeles' river of transportation." The construction is unique in that it virtually has no right angles. The color is beautiful and really stands out against the other buildings downtown.

Here is the main entrance to the Cathedral. There are these massive bronze doors with a beautiful statue of Our Lady of the Angels.
This is the inside of the Cathedral. The organ is on the right side. You can see all of the pipes!
They had a lot of stained glass that was preserved from the previous cathedral that had been destroyed during an earthquake. It was all really beautiful.
Here is a picture of me sitting in the Cathedra, the chair for the Archbishop. I didn't think they would let us anywhere near it, let alone sit in it, but our tourguide actually encouraged us to sit in it and take pictures. I was definitely not going to pass up that opportunity. Very comfortable!
Because I know nothing about the Catholic Religion, it was really interesting to take the tour and learn a little about it. The archictecture was beautiful and all of the history, tradition and symbolism was fascinating. I definitely recommend it.

Thursday Therapy

For a few hours every Thursday, I volunteer at Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade store on Lake Avenue in Pasadena. My friend Gail has volunteered at the store in Utah for a long time and introduced me to it. When we first moved here I quickly became bored without a job and Andrew working all the time. While I was out exploring I came across the store here and decided to start volunteering. I have now been there for almost two years! When I first started working there I didn't know anything about fair trade (and honestly didn't really care to), I just wanted something to do. I have now grown to love the store, the people involved with it, and have embraced the mission of fair trade. I don't make it into the store every week and I really miss being there because it really is my time to get away from everything and make a small contribution to the world. That's why I consider it my "therapy."

Around here whenever people hear "fair trade" they automatically think of coffee. There is so much more to it than that! Ten Thousand Villages work with artisans in 37 different countries to help them earn a fair, sustainable, living wage. The store is full of so many amazing things, and everything is hand made! Everytime I walk into the store I find something new to fall in love with. Here are a few of my favorite things that I have bought at the store:

This is an "I Love You" puzzle. All of the letters fit into that heart shaped block in the back. Oh, and the red candle on the right is from there too.


I absolutely love the jewelry that we have at the store. And it is such a great price too! Here is part of my jewelry collection from the store.

I have a constant list of my "next purchase" at the store. There are so many amazing handbags, picture frames, home decor, etc. I think the next thing on the top of my list is one of the beautiful scarves, like this one. I don't really wear scarves, but if I had one like this I think I would wear it.
When you set out to do your Christmas shopping you have to stop by the store. It is the absolute perfect place to do all of your shopping. There is definitely something for everyone. And you don't have to worry about spending too much money, because it is all going to an extremely good cause! (I'm starting to sound like a commercial, so I will stop now)

Did I mention that they have the most amazing fair trade dark chocolate?

Utah Wins!!!!

Hear that? That's the sound of my heart not beating.

My heart stopped about three minutes ago. Luckily, I have plenty of iron in my blood and can last another 12 minutes like.

What would make my heart stop? If you know, or if you read the title of this blog, you already know. The Utes took the field tonight against the Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers were not expected to do much this season, and their first few games showed that. When you lose 45-14, even if it's to a good Penn State team, you can't feel like the season is on the up and up. That is until you pick off the number one team in the nation (sorry Cory). That was one week ago. I went from a 1.2 on the Worried Scale (a 1 to 10 scale) to a 9.3 (a 10 is bedwetting scared). I was right...

The game was tough. Utah has a couple terrible weaknesses this year: starting slow and not holding onto the ball. We started the game okay, but had a terrible second half. Johnson struggled. The defense wasn't as steady. Let's get down to the good part...

With just over 2 minutes left, the Beavers scored a touchdown, putting them up 28-20. It was so frustrating. The Utes let them score on a bad penalty that kept their drive alive, and then got fooled on screen pass. After the Beavers put themselves up by 8, I started hitting my head against the wall. I'm in a hotel in Tulsa, so the people in the room next door asked me stop. I explained the situation, and it frustrated them so much, they insisted I continue hitting my head against the wall, just softer (this may or may not have happened).

The Utes got the ball back with two minutes and the magic started happening. Johnson was his real self. He threw some solid passes. Made some good plays and then BAM two long passes and touchdown! Down two the Utes did the logical thing and went for two (If they had gone for one, the Utes would have still been down by some unmeasurable amount. I went to college, trust me.).

Johnson dropped back AND WE FAILED ON THE ATTEMPT. Thank goodness for ref's and late flags. The second attempt was good. Utah forced a punt and took the ball. Johnson, back in form, drove the Utes down handing the ball to this man... only the all-time leader in Utah history in points. And guess what, he made it. I can go to sleep, bloody head and all!

Handbag giveaway

Handbag Planet is giving away 24 handbags in 24 hours. Very exciting. I'm sure I won't win, but it's worth a shot! Click here to go to their website www.handbagplanet.com