...and all that jazz

1st adventure of Fall Break takes us to...

Seriously...what an awesome city! It is a gorgeous skyline.

It was so fun. We're glad we had these folks to show us the town:

This is how I felt about being on Fall break finally! (Have I mentioned that I've been waiting for fall break?!)

The city reminded me of so many wonderful movies...

While You Were Sleeping:

My Best Friend's Wedding:

Ferris Bueller's Day off:

(I'd like to think this is where the parade was.)

Return to Me, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Fugitive, Home Alone, Sleepless in Seattle, This list goes on and on. No wonder I like this city so much!

We ate here:

(So cool looking!)

We had REAL Chicago pizza!

(SO amazing Michael used good manners.)

We saw amazing sites:

(My childhood dream!)

Lots of artwork:

("If you're going to commit to this you are going to have to open up...bare that beautiful soul...let me see your teeth.")

It was a delightful day!

It's finally here

Black nails October is finally here. I have been waiting for October for sometime. Reasons for this include:

-My fall break starts next week. 7 Days and counting...

-Trip to Chicago next weekend

-Trip to Utah for a week- yes!

-Hubby's B-day

-Halloween

-Hopefully cooler temperatures in the AZ

-CONFERENCE!

-Black nails

-Seeing family and friends

-Starting out the holiday season

-And a whole bunch of other adventures

Black nails October has been a roommate tradition for some time now and it's fun to look forward to. It's a great way to bring in October!

Bummer Summer

I'm not going to lie, with temperatures still above 100. I officially say good riddance to summer. It was taken early from me anyway with school starting Aug 2. So now that I am 35 days into the school year, I say the heat can leave as well. I'm still waiting for those temps that make people like living in AZ. Start convincing me...

Homesickness

So I will confess that I am usually a bit homesick for this place:

(Go Figure)

However, lately, I have also had a bit of homesickness for this heaven on earth:

Especially since when we were in Snowflake (as previously mentioned) I found this beauty:

That is the closest thing that I've found to this beauty in America:

(The Big Bikkie)

It's so wonderful. We ate many of those. We even played many rounds of "Big Bikkie. Oh yeah. Big Bikkie #1. #1 Big Bikkie." Classic.

(I love everyone in this photo! So many stories could be told just from this photo.)

The American version wasn't as good, of course, but it was a good tide me over until I get to have my beloved Big Bikkie again.

Double your pleasure, double your fun...

Almost a year ago, Michael and I enjoyed a trip to Snowflake, AZ.

Year two, we doubled the fun with these folks:

We're glad the Baers joined us for our secret escape from the still 100+ degree weather. (It's September- Does it really have to be that hot?!?)

We enjoyed serving in the temple.

Dining at the Skillet. They had the BYU game on- thus the boys couldn't be bothered to look at the camera. This was also at the beginning of the game, otherwise our faces wouldn't be so chipper.

The boys enjoyed some golfing.

The girls enjoyed the cart ride. It really is an awesome course and that's coming from a non-golfer.

So many, many pictures.

We took the scenic route home that has incredible cliffs and the boys just couldn't get golf off their minds.

It ended up being a very good pit stop because we realized that the Baers' keys were left in Snowflake. We're glad we noticed before we were all the way back. Luckily, it's such a small town that we were able to get a hold of the chief of police who conveniently knew who runs the golf course, thus enabling us to get the keys back. Good times!

PS I love the weekends!

Coming soon...

I feel a project coming on...

The house that Craigslist built...

This is the room craigslist built...

Entertainment Center- Really came from KSL but close enough- Our movers were not happy moving this solid piece around...

32" TV to fit in the entertainment center-

Our coffee table (I love the legs)

... and our end tables

Plant stand- I don't like this plant on it, but it works for now and even though it seems so simple, new plant stands are REALLY expensive. This one's vintage from the 40s too- cool story.

REAL leather chair- And yes, it's as comfy as it looks. Don't believe me, come try.

We needed something BIG and not bulky but 8' fake trees are $300+ in stores. Woot for a fraction of that!

It's fun piecing things together and finding good things that are affordable. Craigslist sure has a lot of crazy things, but if you keep your eye on it- there are some great things on there.