"brrrr..."

Me and Trevor have this thing about our heater.

We refuse to turn it on until November.

Last night we were fighting over our Snuggie.

Yes, we have a Snuggie. In fact, it is a UTES Snuggie,
which makes it that much better then a regular Snuggie.

I am a total lover of Snuggies. I know people like to make fun of them.
But you really can do anything while wearing them.
Which is so great when you are:

1. eating cereal at 6am in the morning and it is cold.

2. while you are cold and are wanting to be on the computer; this way you can type and use your hands while they are still covered in warmth.

3. two people can wear a Snuggie at the same time.

4. while you are cooking and are cold. (yes I have cooked in my Snuggie.)

5. when you get out of the shower and don't want to put any clothes on yet. haha.

6. oh and when you and your husband refuse to start paying the heating bill in October :)

(Yes, I am wearing my Snuggie in a restaurant, with my sunglasses on.)

First things First...

So yesterday was a day of "Firsts."

Yesterday was the first SNOW FALL of winter! 

(Up here in Salt Lake anyways)

AHH! It was lightly falling all day, and then at night it was coming down pretty hard.

Before we went to bed I looked out the window and said to Trevor, "It looks like Narnia outside!"

 (Okay so it wasn't this magical outside... but you get the idea)

So walking to my 7:30AM Spin Class in the freezing cold was a blast...yay.

On a happier note, the other "First" that happened yesterday was that

I applied for graduation. Did you hear that correctly... GRADUATION?!

I didn't really think too much of it, but after having my advisers sign off the form and then handing it in...well it felt pretty darn good. Better then good. Better then I thought it would feel.

I was a little surprised with how excited I got over it to be honest, haha.

Graduation just feels so real and obtainable now, and so close :)

Anyways, Halloween is just around the corner!

Last year I tried to get creative and made some Mummy Dogs.

I think if you have kids or nieces or nephews this is something they would LOVE and could have for lunch or dinner.

It is also something super simple kids could help out with and have fun making with you.

 (Just get some Pillsbury bread sticks and wrap the dough around the hot dogs and add eyes with mustard or ketchup!)

 When it comes to impressive and creative food, I always go to Bakerella!

She is where I got my amazing cream cheese frosting and red velvet cake recipe from (I added the cheesecake!) The one I made for Trevor, remember?

If you are going to a Halloween party this year, here are some other really fun and cool treats you can make.

 (VIA)

 (VIA)

(VIA) 

This is when I wish we had a bigger apartment, so I could throw a party, just for an excuse to make loads and loads of awesome treats and food like this!

Nightmare on 13th Street...

This past weekend me and Trevor went with some friends to a Haunted House. Trevor had actually taken me to this Haunted House back when we had first started dating. Back then it was the best haunted house I had ever been too, and this year it was even better! It is called Nightmare on 13th and was actually voted one of the Scariest Haunted Houses on the Travel Channel! So if you are in Utah or going to be here in the month of October, you HAVE to come check it out! near the end of it, I was actually getting really upset and ready to get out haha. They incorporate real scary movies throughout it which I love because at least one of the movies you have seen, &the movie scared your pants off. They just do a great job!

After the haunted house we all went over to another friends house for some candy, Texas Hold 'em, some pumpkin and peach pie and the movie Young Frankenstein. It was a great night that got me in the spirit of Halloween :)

Okay so here are some pictures they took of our group before we went in. We took ours with Freddy Kruger of course. They said 3 on each side so me and Trevor had to split up, haha. 

I would just like to point out, that Trevor is doing the EXACT same thing in both photos. I asked him why he was starring up at the ceiling &he said he didn't know what to do....haha. I on the other hand have no idea how I pulled this face. We were suppose to look "scared" and I just look like I am straight out of the looney bin, haha.

What have you been doing to get into the Halloween spirit?!

Love...

(Summer 2010 Hayley tired after a day at the Calgary Zoo)

My little old lap top is about one day from dying on me. I have had it since before I started college yikes!

Thankfully when I need to do something super duper important Trevor lets me use his nice Mac.

Anyways, I have been going through my computer and trying make some more space and room by organizing my photos and putting them on an external hard drive.

(so one day I don't loose all my memories captured in beautiful pictures!)

I came across this while going through my pictures.

Gosh I love this picture.

More then that I love being an aunt.

I told my dad once that, I don't think I could ever have my own children now.

I mean... if I love my nieces and nephews THIS much...

what would it possibly feel like to love my own child?

The thought and all that comes with it, seriously scares me.

rub a dub dub...

One thing I have always loved ever since I was little is taking a bath.

I love being all alone, relaxing in the warmth and scents of a bubble filled bath.

In fact now that I think about it, the bathroom is probably one of my favorite places.

Which brings me to this post.

Me and Trevor are poor newlyweds. 

We have a cheap apartment really close to campus where I go to school and work.

Usually cheap and close to the University is a rare thing, so we know how lucky we are. For this I am truly grateful.

Now that I have said how lucky I know we are to have this apartment, I am going to tell you that I live in a dungeon. We call it the "dungeon" because we live in the basement of a house.

A house that is over 100 years old by the way...

Anyways, the worst part about our bathroom is that it is literally big enough for ONE person to stand in.

When you sit on the toilet, your knees hit it the wall.

One day I was at a friends house and went to the bathroom. I realized I was sitting on the toilet sideways when I didn't need to be. I have actually developed a habit of sitting on the toilet sideways.

lovely.

Now onto the whole point. This bathroom only has a shower.

NO bathtub.

I miss my baths. That wonderful relaxing alone time I would have in the tub.

I wouldn't get out until I was nice and wrinkly all over :) That is when you know you are done.

Me and Trevor love to talk about "when we get out of this apartment..."

The "...." is a bunch of different things we would like to have in our next place.

But for now I want to say that one of my dreams is to have a beautiful claw foot bathtub :)

I think that a claw foot bath tub is the epitome of bath tubs!

Someday, Someday I will light a million candles, fill my claw foot bath tub up with a bunch of bubbles

and disappear....

Times they are a changin'

So I think it is officially Fall weather here in Utah.

The trees are yellow, and there is constant sounds of crunch with every footstep.

For the first time since Spring while walking to and from school and work, I was pretty chilly.

By the time I went to my six o' clock class I needed a jacket. Not just any jacket, my thinsulate one!

This officially means I will need a jacket from here on out until probably Spring.

Despite the cold, I actually love fall here in Utah.

Growing up in San Diego, I didn't really see any seasons change.

There really isn't anything more beautiful in nature to me then a sea of yellows, reds, and browns.

--that could just be my fetish and obsession with the color yellow :)

But anyways, it is beautiful here.

I wish it would just stay, JUST LIKE this and NOT SNOW.

But alas I can not change the weather. I can however change my blog :)

The change in the air must have ignited me to get bored with my blog lay out

&give my space a face lift!

(Fall 2010... Not really sure what I am doing with my hands there! HA. &Trevor has food in his mouth, but I thought it was a "fall" looking picture and taken in the fall...so alas!)

Drowning...

So with wrapping up midterms, papers due, my new spin class at 7:30 am, and an ever growing to-do list....I feel like I am drowning in responsibility!

Remember the days when we begged to stay up late (like 9pm was late HA!) like a "big" kid?

When all we had to worry about was some easy peasy spelling homework and a project that when you think back...was actually kind of fun?

Elementary and Middle School were the dream, right?

High School wasn't too bad either. I mean you gained more responsibility, yes, but for the most part, high school is simply just fun. At least my experience was.

But moving out of the house, going to college, paying for rent, books, tuition, food, gas, so on and so on.

Hard classes, feeling like you have been in school for a million years, midterms, finals, and all the dramas of "real life."

Bah! When does the easier part come?

Can you all tell I have Senioritis or what?!

P.S. I may have stuffed some toilet paper in my shorts this morning
to cushion my bum bum during Spin :) HA.

Oilers...

Where are all my hockey fans?

As some of you may have picked up from reading this blog I played Lacrosse from middle school and through out high school. I have played on college club teams, as well as the woman's league in San Diego.

I even had the amazing opportunity to coach at Brighton High School (I wish I had more time for coaching....someday I will again!)

With that said, did you all know that Canada's original national sport was NOT hockey? It was Lacrosse!

Now Lacrosse is the national summer sport, and Hockey is the national winter sport.

In fact Hockey and Lacrosse have a lot of similarities.

Anyways the whole point of this conversation is to say.... Although I tend to get caught up in college football around this time of year (GO UTES!) I can't forget about my homeland's favorite sport!

HOCKEY SEASON ANYONE?

Hockey is such an exciting sport to watch, and if you are from Canada you have to have a team you support. You can't avoid it, you are just born into it. My family are Oiler fans :)

Imagine my mother's dismay when my sister married a Calgary Flames fan (The Horror!) haha

So in honor of the NHL Hockey season starting this month, I have been sporting my big comfy Oilers shirt around the apartment while I study and do homework.

I LOVE IT.

Cool side-note... my cousin Zach Hodder is an amazing hockey player. I wish I lived up north so I could get to see him play! He currently plays for the Vancouver Giants who are a Major Junior ice hockey team!

Smiling Sunflower

A dear family friend sent me and Trevor a belated wedding gift.

She told me that every time she thinks of our "sunflower" wedding she smiles. 
(one of my colors was a rich marigold/sunflower yellow, and along with daises and some of my other favorite flowers I had big giant sunflowers at the reception.)
She then told me that she was so inspired by our wedding, that she had to make me this gift....

She is so talented, and her sweet gesture melted my heart.

I can't wait to put it up on a windowsill &let the sunshine come through it.

I am happy that thoughts of my wedding day make her smile, because every time I see this beautiful piece of art... I do the same thing.

Fall Flab...

 (Christmas 2008, Trevor and I made "Look A-Like Cookies" after the Holiday Dance at the Salt Lake City Capital...don't you think he got my lace dress pretty good on the ginger bread girl? haha)

I have always been able to loose weight quickly. Now before you go hating me for that.... I gain weight even faster! &I am well aware that someday, I won't loose quickly but I will continue to gain quickly, haha. Since moving to Utah I have noticed something about myself around fall and the holidays. During the months of October through December, I always seem to put on some extra pounds.

With it being so cold outside, I am...

1. Less willing to be active. I grew up in San Diego where it is warm all year round, and so going outside and being active is never an issue when it comes to the weather.

2. Because of how cold it gets, I am covered up in pants, leggings, boots, jackets and scarves. It is easy to not worry so much about what shape your body is in when no can actually see it, haha (then spring rolls around and I put on my cute dresses and look like a sausage coming out of its casing!)

3. FOOD. I love it, but who doesn't? Food acts as my stress reliever sometimes, and when I get down because of the weather, or stressed out from midterms and finals... I eat. The best foods come out around November and December....yummy HOLIDAY FOOD! Because I have already had the month of October (yummy Halloween treats) to put on some weight, I always feel like, "Oh well!" &I just eat whatever I want during November and December. I mean I always use the rationing that it is inevitable, and hey I can wear a big coat and less people will notice the extra 5 pounds. Right? I just don't care at that point and stuff my face around the holidays.

So then January rolls around and I notice the damage that has been done. It is all about a new year and I make the goal to get back in shape, but it isn't really until February that I really start to get my butt back into shape. I always get back to my regular weight in about a month, but I hate that this happens EVERY year around this time. So I have made a goal to not have this happen (again.)

With that said... I have been trying to switch things up from my regular running at the gym. I have been trying yoga, and a couple weeks ago I did something crazy. I will preface this by saying I am NOT a morning person! Just ask my dad who had to wake me up for early morning seminary at 5:30 everyday in high school.... which makes me think I am crazy but I signed up for a Spin class that is twice a week at....are you ready? 7:30AM to 8:30AM! BAH! 

Although I am not a morning person, I would like to be. I always feel so much more accomplished with my day when I am "early to bed, and early to rise". This class starts next Monday and runs through December. I am taking it for credit so I will be forced to get off my butt and go to it.... even on those extremely cold winter mornings.
I know I am going to hate it at first, and well to be honest, I will hate it probably every morning I have to get up and go outside in the freezing weather BUT I know it will be worth it. I know I will feel great after, and that maybe this constant working out throughout my "gaining" months will help break my cycle... cycle, get it? haha okay bad joke.

What are some of your health goals?

&it is good timing too, because we have eaten WAY too much red velvet cheesecake around here...&I am feeling it...

knock on wood....

Trevor loves playing his guitar &making music! And thankfully, I love to hear him play. Since the LSAT has been his number one priority, I haven't been blessed to hear him play too much the last couple of months. BUT now that the LSAT is over, he has been playing quite a bit the last several days, and I love it.

Just thought I would share a random video of him playing.... &hope he doesn't kill me for posting this :)

Double Happiness...

HAPPY CANADIAN THANKSGIVING!

Growing up I got to have TWO Thanksgivings!

Today I would have made some pies for us to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, but seeing that we still have half of that red velvet cheese cake left over &that I am still stuffed on it and feel its richness in my stomach... I am opting out of pie for today.

This will be the FIRST Canadian Thanksgiving where I do not have Pie!

Maybe I should make a dinner that has some turkey in it?

Maybe later this week I can make the "mini" pies I made last year for Thanksgiving and Halloween. They were so adorable, and really easy to make. Except the lattice on the cheery pies got a little difficult for me.

These were so much fun to make, and so adorable. You can make the little pumpkin ones have jack-0-lantern faces if you want! Got to love Bakerella for all her creative cooking ideas!

(Her site also gave me the idea to make Trevor's hamburger cake last year for his birthday)

So Happy  Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians out there!

&Happy Columbus Day to all my fellow Americans, ha :)