Autumn Fun

I love the fall. This year has been no exception, although it seems to have come so fast! Does anyone else think that summer was just a few weeks too short? 

For my birthday I dragged my entire family to a corn maze. I had a great time. However, after an hour and a half in the dark, tripping over fallen stocks and making no progress (we hadn't even found the first bridge out of three), my family was ready to give up the satisfaction of doing it themselves and instead clung to one of the "orange-vest men" who we knew had the knowledge of the path leading out of the endless corn. It's a good thing we did too, he did not take any detours and it still took at least ten minutes to get us out. We would probably have been there until morning.

(I think I blinded Kali in this shot, hehe )

Last Saturday we headed up the canyon to Cascade Springs to meet my dad with the 4-wheelers. It was so beautiful, I couldn't believe it. Here are a few pictures:

(I have since cut and dyed my hair...

I'll have to get a new picture on here)

(Justin & his new truck)

(Kylan is very serious about getting dirty)

(My dad enjoying the scenery)

Amazing ;). I love the fall and Halloween activities. In the next month my plans include the mystery dinner theatre, haunted houses, carving pumpkins, frightmares, witches night out, just to name a few. If anyone wants to come along just let me know, Mwahaha. It will be fun :D.

A Quick Trip to Denver

About two weeks ago Justin told me that he needed to drive to pick up something for work from Denver. He also said that this would be a great chance to visit his grandparents, whom i've only met once over five years ago. I like road trips, so we took the chance. 

Oh, Justin also said he would get me a new camera for my birthday.....haha, alright... so I was the one that convinced him to buy it for me early, but it made the trip so much more fun!

It was such a long drive. We left Saturday just after noon (I wanted to can peaches with my mom first) and didn't get there until after midnight. 

Justin's grandparents live in the forrest. That is the best way to describe it. An old cabin in the woods. We got inside and talked with them for the next hour before going to bed. Amongst the conversations of family history (apparently Justin is related to Pocohontas, Constantine, a declaration of independence signer, and a few kings of England....whoa) and current happenings it was mentioned that there were indian spirits outside that could be heard during the spring and fall around the cabin. In fact, in the room that we were going to be staying there was an indian that would stand outside the window all night long. Hmm....just what I was hoping to hear staying in the middle of the woods... at one o' clock in the morning. 

Needless to say it was a long night.

(outside the window the next morning... Indian free!)

We enjoyed exploring around their home and talking with them for a while more the next morning before having to leave. It was much less eerie during the day :), and it was fun to learn more about Justin's mom's family.

Their backyard:

My new camera is amazing. It's tiny (about the size of my phone), takes great pictures, stores family & friends' faces so they are always in focus, has an easy setting for every kind of picture, anti shake/blur, and takes pictures automatically when you smile. I love it.

Here are some neat pictures that I got while we were driving home... all were taken flying by at about 80 mph ;).

So, I have officially began my time this season as a "hunting widow" as my mom calls it. Justin has been practically bouncing off the edge of his chair excited for about a month for the hunting season to start...and so it has. This weekend was his first of the year. He's been gone since Friday hiking forty miles in the mountains after a very small wild bird. So, with numerous time one my hands I begin the fall season. I just love fall though. There's nothing like the cool breeze. The excitement of school and holidays and crunching leaves as they fall. It's all so beautiful.

Here's a joke to finish off the weekend:

A little girl asked her mother, 'How did the human race appear?' The mother answered, 'God made Adam and Eve and they had children and so was all mankind made.' Two days later the girl asked her father the same question. The father answered, 'Many years ago there were apes from which the human race evolved.' The confused girl returned to her mother and said, Mom how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by God, and Dad said they developed from apes?' The mother answered, 'Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his.'

Justin's birthday was on the first of August. We've been married over year now and it has been great! We've always been able to communicate so well and he does so much for me....including the cooking :). He also can always make me smile. It seems like I could spend forever with him and it would go by too quickly... good thing we have that long.

So, I decided to get him something worthwhile. I ended up choosing a backpacker GPS. Justin loves to hike and hunt and he does not like to use trails which are intended to bring you back alive. He's positive that his internal compus will help him to survive it. However I've got a lot of years ahead to rely on his manly intuitions so I've decided to help them along. I did my research and got him one of these:

He's excited to try it out... and I'm excited that he will always be able to trace his way back home.

We went to McGraths Fish house for dinner. The food was delicious, definetly the best coconut shrimp i've ever had. Plus he let it slip that it was his birthday and they brought out a giant fish hat for him to wear while they sang happy birthday....bonus for me! haha, I'd post the picture but i'm afraid that wouldn't go over very well :(.

Afterwards we had a fun party for him at our apartment and his family and my family came over for cake (which I actually made!). He also had this awesome pinata for the kids to play with:

I thought this was a great idea: You pull on the strings and one of them (everyone gets a chance) opens the bottom of the pinata! no more baseball bats or ruined pieces of art. It was funny to watch the little boys dive after the candy. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad he had a good birthday.

Then the next morning something magnificent happend.........

I was in my pj's all day saturday. Done in 15 hours. All I can say is it was my favorite yet. Read it.

Nothing much is going on for us right now. I think we are mostly preoccupied with buying a house. We probably ought to wait another year or so, but I have to deal with them every day now and it's kind of become a hobby....looking for the right one. We actually put an offer in on one of them. Here's some pictures:

 

I don't know that we'll get it because the bank has to approve the price. But I think we will end up buying one pretty soon. It's so exciting! We're full of all sorts of ideas of how we want to landscape and decorate (that last ones me :) ). We'll have to see I guess. 

Here's a list that I found that made me smile....

Natural Highs: Think about them one at a time.

1. Falling in love. 
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts. 
3. A hot shower. 
4. No lines at the supermarket 
5. A special glance. 
6. Getting mail 
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road. 
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio. 
9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside. 
10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer. 
11. Finding the sweater you want is on sale for half price. 
12. Chocolate milkshake. (or vanilla!) (or strawberry) 
13. A long distance phone call. 
14. A bubble bath. 
15. Giggling. 
16. A good conversation. 
17 The beach 
18. Finding a 20$ bill in your coat from last winter. 
19. Laughing at yourself. 
20. Midnight phone calls that last for hours. 
21. Running through sprinklers. 
22. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all. 
23. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful. 
24. Laughing at an inside joke. 
25. Friends. 
26. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you. 
27. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep. 
28. Your first kiss (either the very first or with a new partner). 
29. Making new friends or spending time with old ones. 
30. Playing with a new puppy. 
31. Having someone play with your hair. 
32. Sweet dreams. 
33. Hot chocolate. 
34. Road trips with friends. 
35. Swinging on swings. 
36. Wrapping presents under the Christmas tree while eating cookies and 
drinking your favorite tipple. 
37. Song lyrics printed inside your new CD so you can sing along without 
feeling stupid. 
38. Going to a really good concert. 
39. Making eye contact with a cute stranger 
40.. Winning a really competitive game. 
41. Making chocolate chip cookies.. 
42. Having your friends send you homemade cookies. 
43. Spending time with close friends. 
44. Seeing smiles and hearing laughter from your friends. 
45. Holding hands with someone you care about. 
46. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) 
never change 
47. Riding the best roller coasters over and over. 
48. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired 
present from you. 
49. Watching the sunrise. 
50. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another 
beautiful day. 

We got to spend all day Saturday fishing! I haven't been fishing for several years, but Justin's sister and her husband have a fishing boat and invited us to come along. We spent nine hours sitting in that boat cruising around Strawberry Lake. My face is incredibly sunburnt. I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror.... I look like an Indian. A sunburnt Indian. 

I just realized I've been tagged! So, Here goes:

All Good Things Come in 3's

3 JOYS

1- My Family. I love spending time with them!

2- The gospel of Jesus Christ

3- Chocolate Cake

3 FEARS

1- Definitely Spiders....something about all those pointy legs and fangs that really gets to me

2- Regrets 

3- Losing someone I love 

3 CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS

1- Decorating :) 

2- House-buying: we're hoping it will be in the next few months!

3- reading Twilight....again (gotta refresh my memory before the 4th book comes out!)

3 SURPRISING FACTS

1- I can shop in Mandarin, climbed the Great Wall, and petted a very large Tiger

2- I am slightly OCD....towels and pillows must be laying in their correct position or it bothers my brain til I fix it 

3- I have a titanium rod in my back, but have yet to find something besides a forward roll that I can't do ;)

As I am typing this I am sitting in my newly re-modeled zen garden. The sun in setting and there is light dancing off the water in my wall fountain. I can smell the honeysuckle in the air...in fact, it's currently growing up a pretty cool looking tiki torch.....yes...this is definitely my happy place ;).

We have had kind of a slow week. One of those that really does let you stop and take time to look at the clouds in the sky or watch your flowers grow.

On monday we took a quick trip down to Yuba lake. This is the first time this year we got to use the waverunners! Everyone was so excited.....probably a little more than necessary (note the video).

It was beautiful. The water was perfectly still just as the sun was setting (not a frequent occurrence for Yuba), this meant you could fly through the water at 55 mph without even the trace of a wave to slow you down.... although the numerous bugs aiming for the whites in your eyes might do the trick instead. It was amazing and it was a good way to bring in summer.

We spent most of the week working. I am really enjoying learning more about my job and how the real estate field works: I know it has nothing directly to do with my almost bachelor's in Psychology, but hey, anything to do with people relates to Psychology. I have always been a big HGTV and home improvement/decorating fan, and I love seeing and hearing about the homes that my boss works with (he specializes in Alpine and Highland). It makes me want to own my own. I'm sure Justin wouldn't be too thrilled to hear this though, lol. That means we would end up having more rooms to decorate....as of right now there is really no more room to put anything. So my shopping trips have been cut back (much to his relief).

(examples of nothing left to decorate)

The fourth of July was spent being lazy and barbecuing, followed by a few legal fireworks in the front yard...nothing too out of the ordinary. It was a great day to think about all the freedoms I am grateful for.

On saturday we wanted to go to Seven Peaks. After arriving we changed our minds. The lines were out the door and around the corner, and the lazy river was backed up tube to tube. After the gray clouds moved in and the rain started we headed back. We are going to try again in a few days. So, instead we went and played in my parents recently purchased wading pool. It's only three feet deep and fourteen feet wide but that's enough room for seymore and cecil (our seahorse and sea turtle, respectively) to fit comfortably. With a swing hanging from the tree above it there were enough toys to last several hours for the boys. We dried off on the tramp and then waited for nightfall in order to do something that I have not done in years: Nightgames. I LOVED nightgames when I was younger. there's nothing like sneaking around in the dark with the sensation that someone could be lurking around every corner. It was exhilarating as a kid, and I found just as much so as an adult. Although it was troubling to find out that I'm not nearly as lithe or as fast as I use to be. In fact my greatest defense this time was to lay there quietly like a big camouflaged slug. This worked wonderfully better than trying to escape the quick movements of my younger siblings.

Afterwards we laid on the grass and watched the stars. No worrying about bills or work or the future.....rather, just being. It was a nice way to enjoy the weekend.