Fall ... Finally!

Now that we have weather this week that dips below 80 degrees, I feel like I can finally say that it is fall! Yay for autumn! Here are some of my favorite looks/styles for fall that I thought I would share with your all :)

1. Sweater long socks to wear under boots! (via Pinterest)
2. Pleated skirts that are actually long (via Modcloth)
3. Tribal print tops -- if only I could find one Owen doesn't laugh at when I try it on.... (via Modcloth)
4. Chunky sweater. And burnt orange? Even better (via Banana Republic)
5. Chevron everything (via Target)
6. Red coats! Trench coats! Coats coats coats! (via Target)
7. Hunter boots. I thinks this may be my new favorite color of them too... (via Zappos)
8. Polka dots! This is a little spring-y of course, but I just thought it was so cute (via Modcloth)
9. Army green nail polish (via Chanel)

Hope you all are having a wonderful Monday and have some extra time to spare to do some online shopping!

Off the Bandwagon

Reasons why I need to get off the "Mondays are Lame" bandwagon:

• The new Pandora website is super cool! I know this may seem lame to get excited about, but with all of the other changes on Facebook and BYU's website that are super confusing and seem soooo unnecessary, it's nice to see a change that actually looks like an improvement.
• Since I'm weird, I haven't brought any tissues over to the living room where I'm "doing homework" so every time I need to blow my nose, I have to get up and walk to the bathroom. This counts as exercise, right?
• None of the members of my Pathophysiology study group had taken the exam yet, so we cancelled and I got to go home an hour early! 
• No roommates = no need to wear pants all the time around the house
• Nyquil. Thank goodness for it. I am so looking forward to 9:00 when I can swallow a cup of that and get zonked out for the rest of the night. Now that I'm married, going to bed at 9 is totally acceptable, right?
• I switched out our fake candle in the living room to the "Hot Wassail" scent. Hello fall in my living room, thank you very much.
• Every paper I've written for school so far this semester has taken me less than an hour. With Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter open at the same time. Not bad.
• Husband is home now! And he brought me pizza. What a great guy. 
• The term "checkerboard chick" Go Hairspray.
• If I did break my toe, at least I'll no longer be a wimp who's never broken a bone before. So that's good. 

A Sign

Sorry it's been only about a thousand years since I've posted but it turns out that this school thing somehow takes up a ton of time. Not sure how I forgot about that but these days there is very little that I do besides studying altered cell biology, choral conducting, or pretending to sing. Anyway, I know it is like wayyyyy after the fact, but Owen and I went to That Game last weekend.

This was probably our favorite part -- if you can't tell because that guy's dumb head was in the way of all of my pictures, this is a gigantic flag that the army guys unrolled out on the field while the national anthem was playing. It was sweet! And huge! And they didn't let it touch the ground once! Very impressive.

At this point in the game, we were a little discouraged, but there was still some hope and cheering. Go Cougars!

At this point in the game, we were wondering if we really should have bought a sports pass this season or saved the money to go to Bali or something instead.

And at this point in the game we were languishing in our seats, eyes wet and hearts broken.

I've decided to interpret this event as a sign that I should apply to the University of Utah for pharmacy school.

An Actual House

source

So I realized the other day that since our house is now above ground, we might actually get trick-or-treaters! I am so excited! In fact, I am so excited, that I am thinking that maybe I should decorate my house this year? We're not going to be around for Christmas this year so we probably won't do much during the winter, but we'll definitely be here for Halloween, and I would love to be that creepy house on the street that all the kids are scared to go to! Or maybe I want to take an approach similar to the photo above that is just full of fall awesomeness. I wonder if our neighbors Ashley and Jordan would be up for decorating our duplex to the max? Any ideas on fun Halloween decor?

Mom, Food, Shopping, and More!

This weekend, Owen and I were lucky enough to have a visit from none other than The Monica Barret aka my awesome mom! We had so much fun! She came by herself, no kids (they are coming to visit for Christmas!) so we were able to run around all day starting at 6:30 am and ending at 11 or later with no one complaining besides Devynne ;) We picked her up Thursday evening, and then got up at the crack of dawn Friday morning to enjoy some Kneaders $5 all you can eat French toast. Delicious. I could only down 4 pieces, but that's probably a good thing because we also went to the Cannon Center and Cafe Rio that day! Yeah we ate pretty dang well during the visit, though we definitely still have a huge list of places we need to hit up in December (Tucanos, the Mayan, Rumbi Grill, and so many more..) and also I need to go work out like right now. Anyway, after Kneaders, I went to work, and then mom came with me to my biochemistry class. She kept up well with the boring enzyme kinetics stuff we were learning--I was pretty proud! After class, I tortured her with a tour and explanation of my research lab, and then we went to the Bookstore and checked out some clothes and eyed the delicious fudge. We went on an awesome campus tour (you know, the ones in the golf carts) after that, which was SO fun. I couldn't believe how fast the driver rode around, I totally thought we would run into someone...We learned some cool stuff about campus, how awesome the new broadcasting building is, how part of Beauty and the Beast was made in the Brimhall building, how the testing center still says "Grant Library" engraved on the outside wall. After lunch we hung out at my place for a little while, then went to dinner, and then the Humor U show, which was pretty funny. I don't know though, don't tell anyone, but I might prefer Divine Comedy...I liked a few of the performers, some new guy and of course the illustrious Stephen Jones, but I wanted more BYU jokes! Maybe that's just me. Then Saturday morning we got up super early again to go get in line for the Lost and Found Sale! My mom loves garage sale, and this is like the ultimate garage sale, so I knew we had to go. We got there at 7:30ish, and I was glad we didn't get there any earlier or later. We totally scored--got 2 TI-84 calculators for $12 each, a cute new black coat, a couple water bottles, some USB drives, a $5 iPod shuffle, new goggles, and tons of other awesome stuff for WAY cheap! I almost accidentally won a video camera in the auction for $90 (wasn't paying attention...oops) but fortunately they didn't make me pay for it! Then we dropped off Owen to go take his test (poor guy) and went shopping! We hit up the mall, checked out this awesome scrapbooking store (oh how I wish I had the time or money...), and I realized something. I am in an awkward stage of clothing! I kept buying myself accessories (a new watch, wallet, etc.) and wondering why I couldn't find any clothes that I liked when I realized something. I am an in-betweener! I no longer want to wear juniors-style clothing, but I'm not old and boring enough to wear "misses" or whatever. So now I have no where to shop. Any store that is targeted towards people my age is either too skanky (Forever 21) or too expensive (Nordstrom). No wonder everything I own is basics! I bought myself a plain olive shirt from Downeast Basics, but it was just that-basic. I need some help. Any advice on where to shop?? Maybe I just need to spend more time looking around...if only I had time. At least I got a cute outfit for Owen! Totally a fun part about being married :) We went to the volleyball game that night and BYU whipped UNLV in 3  game which was awesome and then went to our favorite pizza Terra Mia and watched a little bit of Pysch to wrap up the evening. Sunday morning Owen and I woke up early and started madly writing the talks we were supposed to give in sacrament meeting that day when we got a call and were told that we actually didn't have to speak that day! I was pretty relieved, because that week had been way too busy to give the talk the time and effort it deserved, but was a little disappointed because I wanted to have my mom hear us speak. Oh well. We went to church, had a pretty awesome Isaiah lesson (it included turtle brownies!) and then went up to Owen's family's house for some delicious lasagna dinner. We also had to of course show off some of the wedding pictures my mom brought down, and I am so glad that now all of my hanging frames actually have pictures in them! Yay! So basically we had an awesome weekend that was way too short and didn't have enough sleep--I can't wait to go down to Washington for Thanksgiving and then for my family to come here for Christmas! 


A side note: For those of you who know my love of Sharpies, you can understand why I thought this was awesome!

http://www.kentucky.com/2008/09/23/532854/man-decorates-basement-with-10.html

fall fotos

from top to bottom, and right to left:
us at the byu vs nevada game! even though the team lost, we still had a great time!
go cousin garrett!
who knew crosswalks needed directions? saw this on my walk home from school
beautiful day on byu campus
byu racing team? why do i not know more about this?
my oh  my i love my school
a few scenes from my dining experience at the pendulum court with awesome freshman sis devynne
my real pumpkin roll,
followed by a delicious pumpkin-nutella bread (thank you so much for the idea marci!)

Thankful Thursday: Take 1

 As aforementioned, I will be taking the time (hopefully/mostly) every Thursday to express something I am thankful for, as inspired by President Monson's message this past General Conference. So this Thursday, I am thankful for...

FALL!

 

  
After yesterday's perfect fall weather, and every other beautiful autumn thing that has been surrounding me lately, it would be unfair to not give fall the credit it deserves. I love the perfect weather, just right for a light jacket and sometimes boots or a cute umbrella.

 I love the smells that are associated with fall, the smell of spices and cloves and everything warm and delicious. I admit that I fell into the Utah trend and bought one of those wax-warming candle substitute things (don't worry, I got it for a good price)...and though I do feel a little cliche, I am very much enjoying the smell of hot wassail in my home right now!

 
I love fall baking, and everything that uses PUMPKIN! Pumpkin brownies, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake, pumpkin honey butter (totally trying that recipe next) and oh so much more. Last night I made my first attempt at a pumpkin roll--I've always loved pumpkin rolls but thought they were way too hard to make. It didn't turn out perfect, but I'm pretty proud of it seeing as it was only my first try. Here's the recipe I used, if you want to give it a try!
 

Okay this one looks a tad prettier than mine turned out...

Fall means the start of school (though I am totally over that excitement...), Halloween decorations, the changing colors of the leaves (one benefit to being in Utah), dropping off treats and "boo"ing people, and warm mugs of hot chocolate or apple cider. What it basically comes down to is I love this season!