Pumpkins and Dress Up

I'll just say it right now, Halloween has never been my kind of a 

holiday. But it has slowly been growing on me the last couple of

 years. This year I had a ton of fun. We didn't go crazy and do 

a ton of Halloweeny things, but we did enjoy carving pumpkins 

and going to a costume party.

First was the pumpkin carving. After a long day in the 

yard with Shawn, nine hours to be exact, pumpkin carving 

was just the thing we needed and Ryan and Noelle joined in. 

Our pumpkins, turned out pretty awesome. 

Ryan's Iron Man pumpkin

Noelle's fit her personality perfectly

Mine, well I went for the scary looking face and got it.

Shawn's pumpkin....was supposed to be the
Joker, but I kind of sucked at drawing it
onto the pumpkin.

All four of them sitting on our front porch.

We look a lot alike, don't we :)

Told you, perfect
personality match

Second Halloween together

Next was a costume party...

 Thanks to Ryan and Noelle, we actually had one to go to. Their friends throw a party at their cabin in Midway every year and it was really fun. People are so amazing with costume ideas. There was a Mr. and Mrs. Potato head, Angry birds, Mary Poppins and the Chimney guy, Steve Jobs and the Iphone, Peter Pan and Wendy with their baby Tinker Bell, a couple of bed bugs, and a few others. Shawn and I went as Juno and Bleaker from the movie "Juno". Lets just say I had fun playing pregnant.

Donut eating contest. I had the donut off the sting and in
my mouth but could swallow because I was gagging while
laughing. Yeah.....it was a blast.
(Not to mention, Noelle's face, pretty funny)

Juno, Bleaker, Flo and Mayhem. (Ryan and Noelle tied for
second place in the contest. Good Job you two.)

 One last thing, our new neighborhood, actually goes door to door tricker treating. Yay!!!!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

365 days. 8760 hours. 525,600 minutes. 31,536,000 seconds

A year has gone by since Shawn and I...

 ...and I can honestly tell you I have loved every minute of it.

Happy one year (and a week) to Shawn and I. We have had so 

much fun and there is so much more to come. I love you honey

 and I can't wait for all the years and all the anniversaries we have 

coming our way. 

The Big Kahuna's 25th Birthday

Shawn's birthday party was a blast. I had a lot of fun planning it,

But a birthday party isn't a birthday party without people, so thank you to all who came.

Hostess and Birthday Boy.....correction, Man.

The horse shoe of family and friends

Left to right: Grandma, Noelle & Ryan Stringham, Shawn,
and Jon & Jordan Peterson

Left to right: Breanna Olsen, Jakers, Brady, and Dane

Our two moms! Thanks for all their help
(my mom amazes me with how much she does).

Left to right: Jordan, Blake's date, Blake Edwards,
and Breanna (trying to duct our of the pic)

Marianne and Kate in the back
Kasiah front and center

Aunt Melanie with Addie and Westen.
They LOVE her

Apparently I didn't get pictures of Abbie, Matt, my dad, Mike, Dan, Steve and Celeste, and Jesse. OOPS!!!

And a party isn't a party without food or dessert.

It was all delicious! My mom made the pulled pork
we had rice from Mike and Soogie. Rolls from Soogie
and Jesse. Salads from Grandma, Kate, and Melanie.
Jello from Abbie and Matt. Cookies from Noelle and
Ryan. Corn on the cob from Mike. And last but not least,
cake, ice cream, and drinks from me. It was all so good
and I couldn't have done it without help.

Most delicious cake I have made! It was yellow cake (per
Shawn's request) with a chocolate pudding/whip cream
filling with raspberries. It was delicious!!! 

And it really isn't a birthday party without presents.

Happy quarter of a century Shawn-a-than!!!

Homeownership

What I have learned in the last month from being a homeowner:

1.  My dog is now ALWAYS going to be dirty. That's right, always. Even right after his bath he went outside and came back in with dirty paws and weeds tangled up in his fur.

2.  Putting the vacuum plug in a "centralized" outlet, does NOT allow you to vacuum the whole floor without moving the plug.....bummer!

3.  You tend to watch TV less when it's not in the general living area. Mine and Shawn's TV watching has drastically decreased thanks to us having a downstairs.

4.  The washer only works when you have the water turned on.

5.  Along with number 4, the swamp cooler works better when it has water flowing to it (apparently I have a problem with water).

6.  Living in a neighborhood means that there are a ton of dogs around to "bark it up for no reason" all day/night long.

7.  In a house, when you are home alone, it surprisingly feels more lonely just because you can't hear muffled voices, banging on the walls, and all of that other apartment living perks.

8.  Weeds are now my arch enemy.

9.  Grass grows where you don't want it to, but won't grow where you want it to.

10. Being a homeowner makes you feel proud. That's right, I feel proud!!!

11. I can now say "our house" without Shawn getting annoyed because its was an apartment.

12. Home Depot is so fun to wonder around in when you can actually use the items on your house.

Last but not least......

13.  I LOVE BEING A HOMEOWNER!!!!