Last Sunday was such a beautiful day, so we decided to take advantage of the warm weather and headed out to a park for a few hours!
We ate, read, slept & of course, took some photos!!
As you can see, it was a beautiful afternoon!! I'll definitely be sad when the weather turns cold, but for now, we'll try to enjoy every little bit of it!!
Last Friday my mom called me up to see if I wanted to do some shopping in Layton! I took her up on her offer and we decided to stop for a few minutes in the canyon to capture the gorgeousness of Fall!!
We had a great time shopping, eating at Training Table & chatting and I'm happy that I had the day off work so that I could tag along!!
I can't believe that I'm about to post this, but my I-Pod is kind of demanding it (because I turned it on random & sat down at the computer and the song came on and I can't help it) ...
Apparently, I'm a closet rapper ...
I know, by heart, and can rap along to 'Bust A Move' - the Glee version!
You're not going to get a video of me rapping - ain't no way, no how - but I will happily provide you with a list of people who have witnessed my amazing skills!!
(photo from will-schuester.tumblr.com)
It's one of those things that just kind of happened by accident, but that I'm strangely proud of!!
So our sweet little niece Lizzie was born in October, and every year for her birthday party, the party foods consist of yummy food that looks like yucky things!! This year, as I was browsing Pinterest, I found a treat that I knew I absolutely HAD to make for her party!!
The Pinterest version was on a pretty plate and had guacamole spewing forth, but because we were in a hurry and couldn't dig out a pretty plate and I don't like guacamole, we used a cookie sheet AND our tried and true chip dip (which is really a party favorite anyway, so I don't feel like it detracted from the experience at all)!!
Anyway, just wanted to share a bit of festive fun with you all!
Oh, and the chip dip: 1 pkg cream cheese 1 can chili (we use Stag Ranch-House Chicken Chili)
Throw in a bowl & microwave until you can mix them together!!
You should know by now that I believe that Fall in Cache Valley is probably one of the most beautiful sights in the world! The mountains, the trees, the leaves ... and Old Main!
There is something about Old Main and Campus in the fall that makes me love being being a student and filling my day with walking to and from classes!!
I realized the other day that this is going to be my last Fall on Campus - so I decided I'd better make it count!! I had some time to spare after my class earlier this week, so I pulled out the Kodak Playsport and had some fun shooting the things that I'll miss the most about Fall on Campus!!
I wandered around Old Main, through the Quad, and around the Spectrum!
By the time I made it back to my car, I realized that I had wandered around for about an hour
taking in the smell of the leaves and my favorite things about Campus!
I am so ready to be done with school, and next Spring that will happen -
but I really will miss being on Campus in the fall!!
"Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You have to fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it.
You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings.
And once you achieve a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it...
It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments."
I'm grateful that I got in, but boy oh boy this class is kicking my trash!! I'll sit in class and think that I'm getting it, but when I get out of class and start doing my homework, I realize that I'm not getting it as well as I think that I am!
It's Monday night. Football season has started. The Broncos are playing. My husband is in his bubble. I'm okay with it, because I'm working on these photos of my niece Sadie that I took last night ...
Working on these pictures make me think of this song, which we sang in my high school girls choir:
And hearing that song makes me think of this song, which we also sang! (I'm pretty sure we sang them at the same concert ... perhaps our student teacher had an Andrews Sisters fetish!!) That being said, I LOVED this song! It was so much fun to sing.
After my girls glee days, I was lucky enough to make it into Chauntaires, and it was there that I fell in love with this song:
(Obviously not my choir singing it, but we had just as much fun, AND, we had awesome percussion. If I EVER find a video, I'll be sure to post it on here).
AND,
\ (Again, not my choir)
And, the most beautiful version of "All Creatures of our God and King" and the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (which was sung at every graduation at my school)!!
These songs are just the tip of the musical iceberg when I think about the songs that we sang and that I grew to love through my choir classes in high school!! My girls glee class in middle school is solely responsible for introducing me to 'Les Miserables' and so many other wonderful songs!! Maybe someday I'll upload the videos of my choirs, yes, I think I'd like to do that, but until then (really, until I graduate and have some time on my hands), this small piece of my memory will have to suffice!!
Funny how a little moment of taking pictures of my beautiful niece under an apple tree brought back all of these great memories!!
I can't believe that it has been ten years. As I traveled through the world wide web today and saw images and read stories of the events that unfolded ten years ago, my dedication to being grateful for my country was renewed. I haven't forgotten, I will NEVER forget, but it may have been pushed to the back of my mind. I told Nate that I'm glad that 9/11 will never be known as a National Holiday, because then people will forget and use the weekend to go on vacation, and that is NOT what remembering this day is for.
I found the above picture on MSN as I was reading through the different stories and I fell in love with it. I am SO grateful to be part of a nation that stood together after the months of this horrific event. I am SO grateful for those that are serving in the military and that are keeping our country safe. I am SO grateful for our families and for the fact that we get to hug them and talk to them and be in their presence for at least another day, because no one knows what is going to happen in the future.
May we NEVER forget. May we NEVER take what we have for granted. Let us always remember to stand up for and preserve the freedoms that we have been blessed with.
