BFF's are Grand

Amazingly enough I had not seen my Best friend since my wedding back in July! I don't know if we have ever been apart that long and let me tell ya, it's not easy! Last weekend her brother Vince was leaving to serve his mission (he is so so good and I am sure will touch many hearts while serving for the church), and she came down to Utah to see him off. Finally we were reunited at Cafe Rio. It was so great for me to spend some time with her. She is the best best friend a girl could ever have( if that makes sense?!)

BFF's

(Best Friends Forever)

The whole gang there for Vince

One Last Ride

Last week we went on what I think will be our last ride of the year. It is starting to get pretty chilly out and I don't really enjoy being up in the mountains and freezing! We got to ride along with Zachary's parents and little niece Josie who is staying with G-ma this week while her parents are on vacation( Lucky Ducks!) We rode up Payson Canyon and I was bummed to see that most of the leaves had already fallen off the trees! It was a great ride and nice to be up in the mountains.

Zachary and Josie ready to go!

Doug and J'net with Josie

A Wickedly Fun Night Out

My sweet husband is always on the lookout for new activities I would enjoy, and when he heard of Gardner Village he knew it was right up my alley! I loved this place! There were so many cute shops, my favorite were "Down to Earth," "The Village Whites Shop," and "Upon the Shelf." Not only were the shops fun but the whole village was decorated for Halloween with life-size witches everywhere. We even got to take a carriage ride around the village with a real-life witch who cast a witchy spell on Zachary. To top it all off we ate dinner there at Archibald's Restaurant, if you live in Utah I would say Gardner Village is definitely worth your time.

I wanted to get to the other side of a witch display for a good photo and I got stuck in the bushes! It was so embarrassing everyone thought I was a crazy woman, especially because I kept trying to get Zachary to come and help free my leg and he wouldn't!

This was my favorite witch, I am sad the picture is a little dark, but she was flying on a bike above a pond.

That's an upside down witch if you can't tell...

Our picture with our Witchy guide. I am not sure what kind of face she is trying to pull there.......if she's trying to be scary it worked!

A few Good Things......

Despite the fact that we were working unusually long hours last week( and unfortunately into the weekend) it was a good week.

This weekend Zachary and I were driving home from our date of dinner and a movie ( total classic- the movie however was not a classic, "I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry" was possibly worth the $3 we spent to see it, but nothing more) anyways, on our drive home we shared one of those moments that are often too far and in between. I just couldn't help but think that I am THE luckiest girl in the world! Zachary is an amazing man, and I am so grateful to have him at my side.

A few good things from this past week

#1 We got our car out of the shop after about 2 weeks!

#2 I went to Tai-Pan Trading this weekend and found some really cute seasonal decorations, I can't wait to decorate for Christmas!

#3 We went for a Sunday drive up in the mountains, the mountain air is so refreshing and the leaves are so beautiful right now!

#4 I was finally able to complete this little project inspired by M.S (Martha Stewart) Love that woman! The Pumpkins are covered with glitter- much cuter in real life.

#5 Thanks to my wonderful parents we now have a "new to us" Kitchen Table. We had planned on refinishing the table on our own, but we found a guy who could do it for the same amount as it would have cost us just to buy the supplies! I LOVE how it turned out, now we just need to find some cute black chairs to go with it!

#6 I found this darling little soup bowls and was inspired to make Chicken Noodle Soup, it was so nice to have hot soup to come home to on a chilly fall day!

Taking Action

( I am not sure why, but hair becomes 100 times more disgusting when it's no longer on our heads. So I apologize for the disgusting picture, I just wanted to show the amount of hair.)

Our minds seem to know when we are in a rut. Once we are made aware of our "rut" status our minds will nag at us until we take action. I was in a rut, a serious one. I am pretty sure I have been wearing my hair the same way since my Junior year of High School. I loved my long hair, but just knew it was time for a change, and drastic measures needed to be used. I enlisted the help of my wonderful sister-in-law Johanna, who so happens to be an amazing hair-dresser, and we took the scissors to the hair. I couldn't be happier with the results, and wanted to share Johanna's amazing work with everyone!

My darling niece Josie and I getting ready for our "Girls Night Out," all the girls went out to dinner and bonded over Grey's Anatomy while our Men were at Priesthood

A head shot of the new hair

A side shot, showcasing the highlights, Zachary took his job of photographing the new hair-do seriously, I think I have a picture from every single angle!

Home Sweet Home

This weekend we traveled home to Washington to visit. It was so fun to be home and spend some time with the family. It seems like every time we go home our weekends are jam-packed full of things to do, but we actually had a little bit of down time last weekend which was nice. Well at least I did, we went home to pick up a car that my parents were giving to us, and when we got there it still needed a little work, so lucky Zachary got to get up early on Saturday Morning and go into my Grandpa Rodriguez's to finish things up. It sounds like he had quite the adventure learning all sorts of new things about cars, and getting trailed around town with my Grandpa Rodriguez, which is of course hilarious to me. I'm lucky I married such a good sport, it seems like things in my family always get put off to the last minute, and we like to do everything in the most difficult way possible, and the whole time Zachary will just grin and make the best of everything! Other than fixing the car we got to watch Collin play a football game, Carmen play a soccer game, and celebrate Kendall's birthday. We also got to bring home my Mom's old Kitchen table, which is so great, we are really excited to test our creative powers and re-finish it! We love going home to visit, and only wish we could go every weekend! Thanks to Camille's wedding, it might not be too long until we get to come home and visit again.

We had to go to the Courthouse to get the Title on the car changed over, and Zachary and the Kids decided to explore. We got a shot of them up on the Balcony.

At Collin's football game, can you believe it was cold enough I had the break out the winter jacket?! We were freezing all afternoon!

We had Kendall's "Birthday Dinner" at this great little Mexican restaurant called Fiesta that we love in Pasco.

Kendall with her Birthday cake. I can't believe she is already 12 yrs. old!! It seems like the kids are growing up so much faster ever since I haven't lived at home. Kendall is such a great little helper, and so good to her little brother Collin, our family is so grateful for her! We love you Kendall!