fall in happy valley

we are trying to spend as much time as possible up in the mountains 

before winter arrives....

today makes the 3rd sunday in the row we made it up hobble creek.

second time out on the maverick

{our new side by side}

fall in utah --happy valley-- is absolutely breath taking!

date night in our own kitchen

life has been busy lately
i've rarely had a moment to sit down and open up my lappy.
it's a good feeling knowing i'm staying busy and for the most part my body is keeping up with me.

friday night we decided we'd go grocery shopping
{for some reason i usually dread it.....}
and we bought ingredients to spend the night in the kitchen cooking an elaborate meal.
gratefully i've married a man who knows how to cook and he pitches in frequently.
oddly enough i think cooking for a large family or group is more enjoyable than for just us two.
i changed my mind though as we cooked side by side for date night.
if only we had enough energy to do date night like this more often.....
we made chicken avocado egg rolls and chow mien.
my favorite was the egg rolls!!
seriously they were divine!
{my momma bear was shocked when i let her try a bite from my lunch on saturday. see momma, i can cook if i put my mind to it}
i can't think of a better way to have spent our night.
it was the perfect way to spend time together bonding and eating delicious food!

little sahara

another adventure to check off the summer bucket list...
we headed down to the sand dunes for camping and four wheeling with joe and alyson on friday.
it was the perfect little get away.
we set up camp in the back of the truck and trailer,
enjoyed a campfire
slept under the stars
we were startled by a little fox that came through our camp to snag mitch's left overs from dinner.
{it freaked mitch out to say the least.... i thought he was super cute}
woke up to a gorgeous sunrise and freezing air
a quick ride down to the bathroom for us girls.
muffins for breakfast
and a full morning of riding.
mitch and i both agree that it was one of the best outings yet for four wheeling :)

four wheeling

last saturday we headed up hobble creek canyon to go four wheeling
the leaves are starting to change
crispness lingers in the air
and i can't get enough of the fall that has arrived

joe and his girlfriend alyson joined us
it was fabulous!!!
plus, i'm proud to say that i've finally managed to overcome my fear of going pee in the mountains {lol}
we all went out to dinner after wards
definitely a fantastic way to spend our saturday evening

freedom.....

of a staycation :)

i finished up work for the week around 3 today. hip hip hooray. a little happy dance too. mitch and i are going to take the rest of the week and enjoy our vacation time. never before would i have thought i'd enjoy staying home for vacation. it's beyond fun to travel and i truly love a good adventure.... but staying home and no need to go to work and do what ever we want to when we want too.... count me in! count us in! unfortunately wednesday is mitchel's late night at work so he won't be home for another 4 hours. not to worry i'm enjoying myself. a hot shower to start my time off, a pile of new magazines to read and two darling little fur babies to keep me company..... my evening has never looked better. maybe i'll get around to painting my nails, maybe a nap {thanks to a plummet in my energy. frowny face}

as an additional plus to our mini vacation. nanna will be coming over friday and spending the night with us and going on our farmer's market adventure saturday morning with us. and we'll finally make the trip to red butte gardens for me. the weekend hasn't looked better ;)

here's to a fabulous evening and a refreshing mini vacation at home.

scenes from our weekend

we started our weekend off by attending Mitch's cousin's reception. they had delicious brownies and blueberry snow cones// walking around city creek after the reception. the city was beautiful at sunset// Friday morning I woke Mitch up around 8:30 to give him his birthday gift. New oakleys// hanging out with the little one// we spent lots of time relaxing on the couch. it was perfect// Saturday morning we attempted a morning at the shooting range up provo canyon. unfortunately I didn't get a chance to shoot this time.// the mountains were gorgeous// we had birthday lunch with Mitch's parents at Kneaders and then headed to Highland gardens to browse around// Sunday we taught sunbeams. I look forward to when we get moved to the CTR6 class that we will be with permanently// spent lots of time relaxing// we headed over to Peter's before family dinner to meet his new babies. he has two baby rats named Party and Kay. I'm loving Party. He's super sweet and on the cuddly side// I managed to surprise Mitch and Lexi with a birthday cake at family dinner tonight. It was fabulous :) Everyone needs a birthday cake on their birthday.

is it really Monday already?!

Another weekend has slipped past me.

I started Friday morning out getting ready and trying to get out the door on time when I suddenly realize my keys aren't on the table. I gasp as I run into the garage and sure enough my keys are locked safely inside on the passenger seat. Mitch had to be at work super early that morning so I called him and he responds with a text.

Whats up? I'm at work.

My keys are locked in the car!!!

How'd that happen?

You locked them in there last night after we got home from grabbing dinner.

I have a break in 15 min. I'll run home.

Thanks

lol.

I'm supposed to open at 8 :(

Luckily, he was able to make a quick drive by to unlock it for me. I even managed to lock myself out of the house earlier in the week.... gratefully we have a house key hidden outside. No luck with the jeep key though.

I was even able to take off a bit early Friday afternoon and go birthday shopping for Mitch. He is reminding me everyday how close his birthday is.... he's crossing his fingers I don't repeat last year. I'm going to rock his birthday this year. I can't wait to give him his gift on his birthday. yay.

Saturday was another busy day. We moved a lot of plants we were heavy on. It was almost as busy as Mother's day Saturday. I ended up working a 10 hour shift. I was grateful for feeling well and being in a good mood.

Sunday morning I spent laying in bed dozing on and off. I loved the morning light filtering through the cracks in the curtains. We made it to church and were called as primary teachers. CTR 6. It's a good age. After church we managed to scrounge up some lunch for my starving tummy and I even got a 2 hour nap. We also took the boys out during the evening and brushed them. I swear we could've had another Cezar running around with the amount of fur we brushed out of Jake. it was insane. We even attempted to see the eclipse but we had lots of clouds. We tried driving to the lake to see if the view would be better, but the road was closed and we decided to head home. As we turned onto our street, the clouds parted enough that we were able to see it. Pretty neat. 

Now Monday is upon us and both Mitch and I are exhausted and dragging our feet. Hoping I'll survive another 10 hour shift today and have a good week. 

Spring forward

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous!! The weather was beautiful, the boys came to work with me due to the replacement of our furnace that took all day, and a fabulous afternoon walk with Nanna! It was challenging to spend most the day at work, because all I wanted to do was spend the day outside with the boys. Hope came to work with mom to help with Cezar, while Jake and I attended the pruning class we were holding. I was able to take off around 3 which made all three of us happy. The boys were a little tired of hanging out in the Jeep between potty breaks and customers. Nanna and I had the best girl time taking a long walk next to the lake. We laughed and giggled and basked in the warm sunshine. Spring was definitely in the air. It was such a long day for the boys. I felt bad for them, but they were troopers and loved all the attention and time out and about. On the way home I went to grab Cafe Rio, since the furnace guys were still not finished.... By the time I made it home, my mood had soured a little, the boys were hungry and ready to be in their own space... And the furnace guys still hadn't finished. 8+ hours it took them. It cost us some serious money and they left us with broken sliding doors.... So our furnace closet is WIDE open now. Both Mitch and I are upset about this. My complain will finally come to good use tomorrow when I call to complain. The good news - we thought our house was poorly insulated.... nope. It was that our furnace and AC unit was a old piece of garbage. Our home was the most comfortable and consistent temperature ever last night. 

Daylight savings was today. Springing forward an hour... gives us more light at night, but with battling a insane headache all night I struggled with getting up and out of bed this morning. Poor Mitchel did too. Plus tomorrow he has an insane shift. {13 hours} Hopefully he'll get a good nights rest. If it wasn't daylight savings... we would've been early to church today. Instead we were 20 mins late. better late then never right?! lol. When I got to primary today I was pleased to hear that I was finally released. phew. The new lady they called will be perfect. Mitch is excited that I will be sitting with him in Sunday school again. And it will be nice to meet the other ladies in the ward that aren't in primary. We ended up chatting with a few people as we tried to make our way home after church. I realized I finally feel comfortable in our ward and know some wonderful people. It was a good feeling. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at home and decided to head up to battle creek canyon for a little Sunday hike with the boys. We love the sunny weather. The incline was a bit much for us... but I don't anticipate it being a problem for long with all the exercise we are getting. Poor Cezar got a bum full of burrs. We had to cut them out once we got home. {Two days in a row of burrs}. After our hike I curled up in bed with the boys for a lovely afternoon nap. Sunlight pouring through the window. I look forward to the warm temperatures this coming week and the extended sunlight. 

Hello Weekend

Last night we had a wonderful evening enjoying dinner with friends. Time sure flies when you are having a good time :) Thanks Jaclyn, David and Austin for a great time. We need to do that more often!!

I spend my day (Saturday) at work. Hoping to sell lots of Poinsettias. Naturally I'm wishing I was home with Mitch instead. But I am grateful for my job and the security it gives us.

I've been carrying my nice camera around with me this past week. Looking for inspiration. I need a pick me up and my camera seems to be doing the job well. Looking at every day things with a different eye... It's refreshing even if it just through my lens. I challenge you to do the same. Grab your camera and take a look at life from a different angle.

Tonight, my evening includes reminder calls for the primary assignments. Writing up the agenda for primary. As well as the agenda for our meeting tomorrow. {blah} BUT I do have high hopes for some good snuggles from my boys and hubby and maybe a quick trip to Costco. Hopefully my energy will stick around for awhile.

What do your weekend plans consist of?

See ya soon

This morning Mitch and I finished packing and kissed the boys good bye. Off to St. George for a weekend away.

Hope you guys have a fabulous weekend!! See ya Monday :) I'll be back with pictures from our weekend adventures :)

Almost there.

I've only got 2 more hours to go until my weekend starts. Hooray. We almost had a few hiccups with our weekend... I was just about ready to throw a tantrum I tell you. But it seems it's working out. all in my favor too ;) phew.

My sweet sweet sister nanna will be tending my boys :) thanks a million lady!! I know they'll get plenty of attention with you. Plus Cezar is super crazy about you anyways.

Tomorrow I have a fabulous visitor here on my bloggy for all your darling readers. Im super excited about it!! You should be too!!

I've been dragging all week. I dunno if it's cause I'm fighting a bug, or just super tired and worn out. BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel and can I just say how excited I am for a 3 day weekend AWAY! I'm excited :)

**Do you have any fun plans for the weekend?? Tell me :) **

Can we get a YAY?!!!

People -  it's Friday and better yet... it's Friday Night!! I said my good byes to work  and jumped in my car and drove home. Once home I quickly changed my jeans for a comfy pair of pajama pants and let the boys out. Now for some snuggles with my darling little men while I wait for Mitch to come home from his meeting. What do we have in store for Friday night you ask?? Nothing. Well nothing at the moment and I quite like the idea. A lazy evening followed by a relaxing Saturday.... sounds exactly like what I need. 

Do you have anything exciting planned for your weekend?

{Raspberries}

Clocking out of work it hit me like a double whammy.... ITS FRiDAY. Yipee!! I did a jump, skip and even a heel click :) I knew it was Friday but Baby, IT'S FRIDAY. Best part is that I have tomorrow off! I've got BIG plans for Saturday. A day in Provo. Ha. Just goes to show how often I travel south of work in Orem. It's going to be phenomenal.

Anyways... After clocking out, Mom and I went to pick the raspberries over in Grandpa's lovely berry patch. Sunshine, perfect company, and a bucket to fill with all the GORGEOUS ripe berries. I have to say picking with my momma beats picking alone. Plus we walked away with some serious loot. It took us over an hour to pick. And we loved every minute of it .... Minus the tiny little thorns that I kept pulling out of my finger tips.

I took my basket home, along with more corn for freezing, my coral star peaches and salsa makings for canning. It's going to be a busy weekend in the kitchen putting everything up. I really love it though.
Best part of the night -- tucking away 16 CUPS of raspberries in the freezer. 16 cups people, that's a lot. :) my mouth waters at the thought of them. Mmmmm

Finally... MY weekend begins

I'm sitting in my front yard... Admiring the work I got done.

It's been a busy week. I put in over 14 hours of over time in the past two weeks. Mitch asked me what I wanted to do tonight and I told him "I just want to putter in my yard".

So here I am enjoying a gorgeous evening listening to the birds chirping and planning out more of my yard. I'm pulling out ALL of the bark that was laid down in the flower beds {what a mess} and adding more dirt so its even. I planted my geum and heuchera. :) makes me happy. I spray painted one of my pots and planted it for my front porch :) double happiness. I'm trying to decide where to plant my honey suckle and clematis... My trash can isn't big enough for everything I want to rip out.

Guess the jetta will have to haul all my trash bags full of yard trash.

Better go water.... Hope we can get the front faucet fixed soon!!! Anyone a plumber???

Taking a moment

And trying to gather my wits about me.

My weekend was super busy. Between Friday and Saturday I worked about 22 hours!! It was good. I'm grateful for all the wonderful customers! It's time we start moving plants.

Sunday - church, dinner with Mitch's family and then a quick stop at my mommy's. It was good. However I didn't get nearly enough down time to recoup. I'm exhausted!!

The weather man was right... Sunday night brought rain. It's still wet outside but I hear the birds :) the boys will be sopping wet... I've left them out for an half hour so far. Oh well.

Morning rays

Yesterday was a busy day... I hot a lot done though :) I love feeling like I accomplished things!! Abby wanted to go hiking with Jake yesterday, so he got to ride into work with me. I got an early start at work (8am). Got lots planted. Savannah and I made a great team! :) thanks lady!

Do you ever feel like your rich when you get to go grocery shopping and getting everything on your needs and wants list?? I DO!!! :) we went to Costco and smiths last night... I got happy socks, we got new towels, chews for the boys, more water for storage, Cheetos {I've been craving them lol} and FOOD. We did a happy dance. Lol. What a great feeling to have food in the house. Go ahead and laugh but you know the feeling ;)

I love the sunshine pouring through my windows this morning!! Warm and cheerful. What a great way to start conference Sunday!! Peter is coming to spend the day with us and watch conference. I'm thinking German pancakes and bacon for brunch :)

Cezar got a bath last night, he smells YUMMY now :) plus he's clean so we wanna snugg him lots.

{my weekend}

I had a wonderful weekend!! I was able to squeeze another Saturday off in :) {won't be happening again... any time soon. sigh} But it was pretty great! Mitch owed me a can of paint for my office. So 10 am sharp.... I finally woke him up with the help of the boys. Cezar loves his good mornings! He can't wait until he's allowed into the bedroom, helped up on the bed {we are trying to teach him how to jump on the bed... he's so small. lol} and then smothers you with kisses and sits pretty much on top of your head. It's pretty adorable and charming. Hopefully he doesn't grow much more :) Finally I'm able to drag Mitch out of the house and on the way to Home Depot. They had the perfect color of paint. Cozumel Teal/Blue. I LOVE IT!!! We also checked out the grand opening of Hobby Lobby in AF. We've never been. I fell in love with a beautiful white decorative frame.... I think I need to go back and get it :) It'll match my office. Then we headed home to pick up the 'Hero' cake for Sanna and the finished perennial labels for our Spanish ladies. Plus we were picking up Nanna from work to hang out with us for the afternoon.

We were able to see my grandparents new home {and are SO relieved with the saving of the floor upstairs. ugly linoleum} and seeing the plans for the fireplace and hardware for the cabinets. It's going to be pretty sweet when finished. {Super glad I'll be spending my time in the greenhouse at the store during the move!! Have fun other family members lol.}

For lunch we decided to try out Dickey's BBQ in AF. We are all in LOVE with it!! It's a inexpensive Good Wood. We will definitely be going back!! Then Nanna and Mitch decided we need a cookie run to Smart Cookie. They have the BEST Lemon Cookies and Sugar Cookies and pretty much any cookie is amazing there!!

FINALLY we made it back to the house so I could pop open my paint can and bust out my paint skills. Nanna and I made good progress. Even with her helping Mitch with the attempt to switch out our bathroom switches for cooler ones. {no success in the end... but the switches in the bathroom still work.... the hall light not so much} It was a good day.

PS I really honestly hate taping to paint! I am so cool.... I had edge everything!!
It's pretty amazing.

We also picked up a couple cases of bottled water. I feel the need to be prepared in case of an emergency or a disaster. It's a start. And we took on the task of cleaning out our pantries {we turned our coat closet into more pantry space} and getting rid of the old stuff and organizing it. On the up side we also have a better idea of what we have and need to get. It felt SO good!! I wanna open up my pantry doors every time I walk by :) so I can admire my work. lol. I'm so grateful we were both raised with parents who know the importance of storage and having things on hand!! One step at a time. We feel confident we could easily last a week if not a few more. {everything might not taste incredible but we'd be fine :) lol} We have more things planned for storage and it makes me happy!! {See Mom I did learn something from you ;) }

This afternoon... Cezar made progress in jumping on the bed by himself :) Proud mommy moment for me. lol. I hope he continues to remember. He seems to forget how to jump as silly as it seems. I love my boys. They make me so happy and I love spending time as a little family curled up in bed watching Harry Potter :)

{Someday we'll add human babies to the mix... I promise Moms ;) }

I was also successful... in cooking corned beef and potatoes in honor of st. patties day this week. I feel so cool when I'm successful in cooking meals that always seemed like it was a mommy's job to make. YEA. Like the one time I cooked a thanksgiving turkey by myself and had Mitch's parents over. It was yummy!! :)

AND I made appointments for visiting teaching tonight. I feel very accomplished and look forward to seeing my ladies this week. I'm even giving the lesson. :)

Slowly but surely I'm making one step at a time and making progress every day :)

How was your weekend??? Please tell.

It's like being a kid in a candy store

Mitch and I had a charming weekend. Saturday he ended up working overtime for a couple hours and I spent my day at the garden center. It turned out to be a pretty day {unlike today, stupid rain}. That evening once I got home Mitch declared he wanted candy. LOL. I told him if we go out we need to pick up a harness for Cezar to make walking him easier. He agreed.

Walmart here we come. I'm obsessed with Cadbury candy coated chocolate eggs during Easter candy season.... and can you believe it?! Walmart totally disappointed me!! At least they had peeps! We walked down to the pet stuff to pick up a harness.... and again - walmart disappointed. So we settled on a new larger collar {which was much needed as well}. I guess I'll have to go back this week in hopes of a new shipment.

Our new FAVORITE thing to do is.... walk through the lawn and garden areas at stores and dream big of what we are going to do this year with our yard. But even better is Home Depot and Lowes!!! It seriously is like a candy store for adults! Mitch and I can walk ALL the aisles finding at least something we would like to use in our home! The possibilities are endless!! We spent a good portion of our evening at Lowes.... We decided for now we are going to sand our cabinets in the kitchen and repaint them a cream/antiqued look :) It will look amazing with our black counter top and appliances!! I'm also dreaming of lots of pretty lawn furniture.... maybe I'll be able to talk Mitch into a set sometime this summer :)

I've been in serious need of new shoes for work! I come home with horrible back pain and my feet just want to kill over on me. So we went on a hunt for a new pair for me. We checked Costco and they had some but nothing I was in love with. They did have the new shape ups {?} the ones with the rounded soles that look absolutely hilarious. I've heard it like walking on a cloud!! Mitch wasn't ready to spend $50 on work shoes for me. {I feel the love babe} We did spy some very appealing fluffy/memory foam pillows.... we agreed that those were definitely on the to buy list.... they came home with us :) WONDERFUL!!! Best $30 we've spent in a long time. lol. Next stop was Payless and I FOUND a pair!! They had a shape up shoe for less and all I can say is....
don't knock 'em til you try 'em!!! I will still agree with you, they look funny! But the weight is distributed differently and they are completely comfortable!! Best ever!! I can't wait to wear them to work today!!

Sunday we were completely behind schedule! Mitch didn't wake up til after 10:30 {His work schedule a beast} and needless to say.... church didn't exactly happen :( But we spent the day enjoying time together {since its so sparse lately} and eating yummy pringles that we bought at Walmart. We even buckled down and cleaned our house. It looks fabulous now!! :) I love a clean house... it's getting me motivated to do it is sometimes a challenge. LOL.

My darling friend gave birth to her first daughter, her 2nd. I'm so excited for her. She is beautiful. However the first thing that ran through my head when I read her Facebook update was 'HOLY MOLY she just pushed that baby out.... OUCH!!!!' {lol} Kudos to you wonderful mothers who do that!! It freaks me out for the time being and it sounds incredible painful. Everyone got a giggle when I relayed that info. Congrats Ollie - your super woman!! I can't wait to meet her!!

{Hello Weekend!!}

The weekend has finally arrived!! Hooray!

I managed a full 8 hours at work today.

I was successful in getting some computer work done, helping customers, setting out our fresh delievery of live Valentine flowers.

My throat is still killing me :( So sore and swollen.

My mommy stopped by and gave me some herbs. I love my mommy.

I took some pain killers this morning and went the whole day with out aching.... it was a nice change. They finally wore off around 5 :(

Mitch is starting his series 7 course.... which means I lose him to work and his studying. I'll make sure to enjoy the moments I sleep next to him. It'll be an adjustment for both of us.

We did however set aside time to run out and grab a pizza tonight. We grabbed Pizza Huts dipper pizza.... the thing was HUGE :) And we also stopped to pick me up some orange juice. We shared some giggles while trying to pick out the 'right' orange juice. There are surprisingly a LOT of choices. It was a nice little outting.

After a nice hot shower... lots of water... orange juice.... I'm feeling a tiny bit better.

Mitch ended up needing to work tomorrow. Yea for over time. Looks like I'll spend my morning waiting for the cable guy to come fix my DVR. and then I'll go get my nails done!! They are in desperate need of it!

PS. Tomorrow is the 12th. So pick up your camera and snaps some photos!! For more details check out 12 of 12 here.