Step back in time...

For my Halloween costume I decided to be a 1920's Flapper girl. I was inspired by Charleston week on Dancing With the Stars. The women all looked so cute I just knew that was what I wanted to be. I spent HOURS online trying to find a costume that I could afford. Finally, just five days before my first Halloween party (I went to three this year) I found it. Thanks to a great seller on Ebay who shipped it out right away, it arrived on time.

To make the outfit complete I asked my hairdresser friend to do my hair in finger waves, authentic to the hairstyles of the 1920's. I have no idea why they still teach this technique in beauty school, but I am seriously glad they do! She did an AMAZING job and I got comments about my hair at all three parties. It was seriously the best costume I have had in years! Here's the finished result:

 

 

 

Vampire Coffin

As Halloween neared my best friend and I decided to throw a Halloween party. We'd been talking about it for months but we never really got around to planning it. He was busy with school so I got assigned the task of decorations, most specifically, I had to build a vampire coffin. As I mentioned in my previous post I am not a carpenter at all, but I do enjoy playing with power tools so I thought I'd give it at try. Luckily my other friend was willing to come and help me and between the two of us we somehow figured it out. We had no plans so everything was guesswork, and I will say the angles don't exactly match up, but after about ten hours of work we did end up with a finished product that got the point across.

 

 

 

 

 

The living dead...

Ok I know that I am a serious slacker when it comes to updating this blog. Originally I stopped posting because my life was so boring there was nothing to post about. For the last month there has been plenty to post about but no time! So I will try to do some update blogs and then attempt to keep up on it from here....attempt being the key word!

First of all...Halloween. It is my FAVORITE holiday of all time! I posted an entire blog about how much I love it last year. It's just so fun to be able to do things that are so out of the norm - decorate with tombstones and skeletons, pay to get scared at haunted attractions, dress in a costume and be -- for one day -- whomever you want to be. Believe me, it's not just a kid's holiday!

So this year I decided to up the decorations a notch. Last year I had a small graveyard in my front yard. This year I wanted to expand and have a fence going all around it. However, the fences I found were all about 18" tall, made of plastic, and EXPENSIVE so I began looking online. I found an easy to follow tutorial explaining exactly how to make your own fence using pvc pipe and 1x2 pieces of lumber. I'm not exactly handy, past carpentry projects have turned out...well...a little less than perfect, but this seemed so easy I thought I'd give it a try.

First step, purchasing the materials and fitting 10' lengths of PVC and 8' lengths of lumber into my car...

Cutting everything. I love power tools!!

Spraying all the pieces black. I went through eight cans of black spray paint on this project!

11 hours later...the finished product.

 

 

Yes it took forever but I think it turned out SO AWESOME! The pieces fit into our attic and can be used again next year. And it was a bit expensive, with all the paint and screws I probably paid about $75, but to me the result is absolutely worth it!

Bonus Pic: My ghost tree from the other side of the yard:  I just love Halloween!!!

Time of My Life

Last night was one of the funnest nights I have had in a really long time. I met up with some friends from church and we went out for dinner at Red Robin. I'd never been before and I think it is one of my new favorite burger places. It was DELICIOUS!

After dinner we headed over to the David Cook concert. People had been standing in line since 11:30 AM so arriving at 6:15 we were expecting to be pretty far back in line, but the auditorium is so small it really doesn't matter where you end up sitting, you'll still get a good seat. Well we ended up on the 12th row, which wasn't bad at all!

Before the concert even started I saw an old friend of mine that I haven't seen in four or five years. It was a blast to catch up with him!

The concert was amazing! I wasn't a fan of the opening band but once David came on I was LOVING it! Only two things could've made it better. First of all, he wore this stupid beanie the whole time, which he totally could have done without, and second he didn't sing Permanent which is my FAVORITE of his songs. But it was still amazing!

After the concert we hung around outside hoping to get an autograph. We didn't have to wait more than a half hour before he came out. He went right down the line and we got to meet him and get his signature on the merchandise we had purchased. It was just the PERFECT end to the night!

Shot through the heart...

Ok not really. That Bon Jovi song just popped into my head when I was thinking about what to title this, I have no idea why.

Yesterday for our branch activity we went skeet shooting. The last time I shot a gun was probably 12 years ago when we went skeet shooting for a mutual activity, so I wasn't expecting to be good. And I wasn't. My first round I shot four and missed all four. Next round, only shot one, and missed. I was happy with that, at least I took the chance to try it right?



Well when things slowed down the girls convinced me to give it one more shot. I shot one and missed....typical. Then, I shot and a miracle happened...I hit it! I actually hit a moving target with a heavy rifle! For me, that is a big achievement, so I ended the night on a high note....by missing one more time. It was a really enjoyable night though and I'm really glad I kept trying. Practice makes perfect right?

Get ready to laugh...

Tonight I went to see my cousin's improv group perform at the Virginia Theater in Shelley, Idaho. I was first of all excited to see the inside of the theater. I went through when it was "haunted" around Halloween and got to see snippets of the gorgeous old tin ceiling and ornate crown molding but I wanted to see it all in person. Second I was excited to get out of the house and do something in Idaho that wasn't movies or bowling. Third, and most important, I was excited to see my cousin perform and hopefully have some good laughs. Lucky for me, all of those things happened! The show was great we had some good laughs and good audience participation. If anyone wants to check them out they are performing again tomorrow night (Saturday) at 7:30 at the Virginia Theater. It costs $7 to get in and I think it is worth it! They are also performing next month in Blackfoot at the Nuart Theater. I'll keep you posted on times.

P.S. Their logo is posted above. The name is Improv Underground...get it? Haha. I thought it was pretty clever.

Visit to Twin

Today Kyle and I went to Twin Falls to visit our friend Kayla and her adorable children, MaKayla (age 5) and Brenix (age 3).
As soon as we walked in the door Brenix latched onto Kyle, it was so adorable!

MaKayla was equally friendly with both of us and friendly she was! We went shopping at Costco and Target (and she was the one shopping, not her mother!) and then spent the afternoon at home watching movies and having tickle fights.

They are both incredibly energetic kids, and we had a blast with them, but by the end of the day we were both exhausted!

I have a new respect for Kayla, and all the moms out there, who find ways to entertain their energetic children day after day. I'm not sure how they do it, but they are amazing!