Ohhh October!

October proved to be a month of random firsts. For example, it was the first time that I attended a live session of conference...

The choir was amazing and made me cry.

 

In other news, it was also the first time that I came home and found a snake sitting by my front door…

That sucker was BIG, ok! I debated on whether or not this was a large enough emergency for the police to be called. But when I went back outside, he’d disappeared!! Please oh please let him be gone for good…

 

Another first: I helped Levi butcher a deer. Right in my tiny kitchen. But I also learned that God answers unspoken prayers, because that happened to be the day I got a massive cold so that I at least couldn’t smell anything. My gag reflex only kicked in a few times thankfully.

 

Hooray for my mighty hunter!

Eventually those antlers will be up on a wall somewhere in our apartment. But I’ll worry about that when the time comes.

 

I also made Halloween treats for the first time ever. My V.T. ladies were the guinea pigs for my witch hat cookies.

  

Keebler Elf Striped cookies, orange frosting, and a Hershey’s kiss to top it off. Levi tried to eat all of them before I could deliver them, and he doesn’t even like chocolate!

And lastly, I dressed up for Halloween for the first time since I was 11. Levi and I brainstormed for weeks before he came up with:

 

 

Bandit and Frog, from “Smokey and the Bandit”. (Sorry for the extreme blurriness, I think Cody’s blowup fat man suit made his hands a little unsteady.) Levi made a very convincing Burt Reynolds with his felt mustache and faded bell bottom jeans (old Vanity jeans of mine that he somehow squeezed into. I will never wear them again.)

We had a ton of fun at a Halloween party with lots of friends at Cody & Chelsea’s, eating, carving pumpkins, and watching the classic “Hocus Pocus”.

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A week later, we celebrated my 20^th birthday! I’m officially no longer a teenager. :D

Levi surprised me with a great present.

New scriptures! With my married name on them. :) They’ll get a lot of use over the next many many years. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes, cards, and gifts!

And lastly, did I mention I got a job? Wahoo!! I did! Having a jacked up back has paid off. I was going to the chiropractor through October and at the end of the month, the doctor said he needed a receptionist. (He's only been open for a few months, so he's just now getting busy enough that he really needs a receptionist.) And so, I started work last week. :D

Upgraded Rig

Levi decided it was time for us to upgrade from the Jeep to a truck. He bought the Jeep the same week that we started dating, so I was pretty attached to it. How would we load everyone into one car now and go to Idaho Falls for 4^th of July? And what would we use for shade while sitting at Stone Reservoir?

We let the Jeep go out in style though!

Jazz will be missed!

Levi searched and searched for a truck that met his incredibly specific requirements (silver, under 150,000 miles, double cab, bed size, engine type, spotless interior, etc.) and ended up finding one at a dealership here in town, where a very good family friend works. Completely different situation from the Mazda. ;) Thank heavens. 

He did get an awesome deal and it’s in great shape. Welcome to the family, Jack!

Familía

First week of August my family came to town! HOORAY! Mom, Dad, and the kids stayed one night with us before going on to Oregon for a week. Longest week ever. When they came back, Dad got to stay one more night before he had to go back to Nebraska to work. But Mom and my kiddos got to stay a few more days. :D It was so great to see my family again!

I didn’t realize until now exactly how much I suck at picture taking haha. I didn’t get one picture of my entire family, but managed to snap a couple random ones here and there. This one of Zane trying on hats in TJ Maxx made me crack up. Ü

After we had to say good bye, I decided that my hair needed something different. So…

I straightened it for the first time in… months? Years? I’m pretty sure it’d probably been about 2 years since I was curl-less. AND, this is the first time I’d ever done it with an actual straightener instead of a curling iron. Thaaaaanks Cami!! :D

Fun in the Sun

Holy craziness! This summer has been jam packed with fun. Levi and I have both been working full time, but somehow we still found time to enjoy the summer.

MAY: 

I made it to Idaho just in time for the AFHS 2011 Graduation ceremony.

With my girl, Ash Adkins! Congrats to all my friends who graduated!

JUNE: 

This winter we got TONS of snow, and now everything is flooding.

Yes. That used to be a road. And now a RIVER flows across it. So what do we do?

Walk across it, of course! I thought my husband was going to get swept down the icy river and die on the mountain. Luckily he made it over and back to the Jeep safely.

JULY:

Thank heavens this picture is blurry. And small. I tried to straighten my hair. This is how far I got before I decided it wasn't worth the next 3 hours of work and frustration. People, I may be part white but sadly this hair does not work like white girl hair. Believe me, I tried.

And so, I decided to go this route instead:

That’s right. When all else fails, chop it off!

Also, I learned something important about having darker skin:

When this girl sunburns and then peels, she looks like a spotted tree frog. Not pretty.

At the end of July we had a bridal shower for friend and old roomie, Kaylie, the second one of us 6 girls to get married.

Blake was super excited at the prospect of rings for all, even if they were just Ring Pops:

I wonder if this next picture is a premonition of anything…

TP wedding dresses! On the right is our actual bride, Kaylie. On the left is our girl, Chandi. My bet is that she’ll be the next roomie taken off the singles list ;) Time will tell.

Love for the Cornhuskers Ü

I know I mentioned going to Nebraska in our Mazda post, but I never shared any pictures from that trip! (There was a lot of other stuff going on that weekend. Like buying gallons of oil.)

My Morgan and Zane are growing up too fast! It was so much fun just to spend some time with them.

Of course we made the required trip to THE Cabellas of all Cabellas. 

(The white things in the middle above the man’s head? Yeah, those are mountain goats. Ü Pretty fun to see the large variety of animals around the store.)

The whole way there and back we tried to count all the windmills. After 50, I gave up.

 With Mom and Dad in Sidney, and Levi’s family even further east in Nebraska, it’s a good thing that both of us enjoy driving so much!