DAY 800... Trick or Treat

Well Rexburg, you have disappointed me once again. Today was so cold that Aniston only lasted 5 minutes outside before she started shaking because she was so cold. Luckily for us we went trick or treating on the BYU Idaho campus on Tuesday (DAY 798) when it was indoors. It was really fun that the students got together to have a little trick or treating deal for kids. I appreciated it anyway. It only took Ani a few minutes to realize that if she held her pumpkin bucket up she would be rewarded with candy. So fun! We got told several times that Aniston had the best costume they had seen, and judging by the line for the trick or treating they saw a lot of costumes.

So today we attempted to go to my parent's trunk or treat. Key word "attempted". There were 6 rows of cars, and we only made it down 2 before Ani started shaking. Poor Baby. Even the candy couldn't cheer her up.

Check out 3 hole punch Ryan.... Classic Office.

The Jamba Juice in town was offering free Jamba's for kids 8 and under today and that is where Aniston found happiness. She LOVES Jamba... and let's be honest, Jamba sure loved her too. The girls who worked there died over her costume and then after they gave her her Jamba she signed "thank you" and they thought that was the cutest thing! 

Next we headed over to our wards Halloween party... turned out it wasn't so good if you had kids. Being a married couple with no kids would have been perfect, but not so much for us.... Kind of disappointing. Ani did find this ring on the table and was OBSESSED!

Aniston did get a chance to get her groove on for everybody...

We ended the night with trick or treating at Nana and Papa's house. Finally got Ani to smile for a good family Halloween pic.

And because I love progression pictures... Our first 3 years of Halloween as a family!

I'm already on the hunt for the perfect idea or costume for Ani for next year. Any ideas or suggestions???

Let's just take a moment to remember what Aniston looked like 1 year ago...

From Pea to Peacock... Can you believe how much she has grown???? We're thinking Cockroach for next year maybe? I'm sure I can make that cute...

Also remember how I married a freaking talented man? Just look what he created with our pumpkin!!!

Seriously? AMAZING! Love him!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Monday Munchies... Soft Pretzels

I LOVE pretzels!!! Going to the mall was probably one of my favorite things to do growing up, and let's be honest still is, because whenever I would go to the mall I would get a soft, warm, salty pretzel with some yummy nacho cheese! My mouth is totally watering right now.... I have come across many different recipes for pretzels, but I have been hesitant to try them because I didn't want to be disappointed. Well... problem solved! I have THE BEST pretzel recipe and it will blow your mind! You will never spend $5 again at the mall because your homemade pretzels will be wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than those at the mall and you get so much more for about the same price.

SHOPPING LIST:
2 Cups Milk
2 Packets of Dry Yeast
6 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons of melted Butter
4 1/2 Cups of Flour
2 Teaspoons of Fine Salt
1/3 Cup of Baking Soda
3 Cups of Warm Water
Coarse Salt
Nacho Cheese or sauce of your choice

Warm up the milk for 90 seconds in the microwave.

Stir is both yeast packets and allow the mixture to sit for 3 minutes.

Next add the butter and sugar.

Add flour one cup at a time, then add the salt.

Kneed or use a mixer for 10 minutes. (This is when I really really LOVE my KitchenAid Mixer. BEST WEDDING PRESENT EVER!!!!)

Grease a bowl, add the dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place.

After an hour, Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Divide dough in half, then in half, then in half again.

Roll dough out snake style. We chose to make pretzel bites because they are kind of better that way and the dough seemed to go much much further, but you can always youtube how to make fancy pretzels also.

Once the dough was rolled out, cut into small pieces (we used a pizza cutter).

Mix baking soda and warm water in a bowl, and place cut dough into mixture. Make sure the entire pretzel or bite is covered completely. I'll be honest, this part weird-ed me out, but I think it's the secret to the awesomeness.

Place on greased baking sheet and sprinkle the dough with coarse salt.

Bake for about 8 minutes, longer if you make actual pretzels.

Heat up the nacho cheese or sauce of your choice and ENJOY!!!

Seriously, you will die after the first bite. These are AMAZING!

Another thing that is amazing... My super cute baby! Oh I just LOVE being a Mom to this cute girl! Even more than I love pretzels... being a Mom sure does change a person.

DAY 795... Hocus Pocus

Our apartment in Rexburg is in the perfect location for, well, living in Rexburg. Today, we decided to get Aniston all dressed up in her Halloween costume and head over to Hemming Village's Annual Hocus Pocus Halloween thing. I'm not sure what to call it... It wasn't a party, it wasn't a carnival, it just was a place to basically show off Ani's sweet costume and for her to get some candy. Speaking of her costume, it was a HUGE hit! I cannot even count the number of people who took pictures of my child (bad parenting?) or told us how great she looked. That made me feel good, since I made it of course, and also because it just made me feel like I am a better Mom than I was a month ago. It was a good time. Plus the weather today was insane!!! Let's be honest though, all of Aniston's Halloween candy that she got while trick or treating was gone by the time we got back home. We only live 2 blocks away from Hemming Village... I have a candy lover on my hands.

 Ani just LOVES her Nana and her Nana's teeth!

 Hello feathers

 Walking with Uncle Ryan.

 How adorable is that Halloween bucket???? I know everyone has them and they only cost 99 cents from Walmart, but that's my baby holding it and it's so cute!

 Walking with Nana and Papa. So cute!

 Ani was a little scared... but I'm just getting her ready for Disneyland.

 Aniston spotted  a horse!

 Cute, cute, cute!

 Love us some Duck Dynasty!

 Fishing with Papa! Definitely won't be the first time we see one of these pictures.

We ran into some of my old cheerleaders and Ani was super excited to see them again! Cute girls!

 Ani's favorite cheerleader... Let's be honest.

 Ummmm... there was no question about taking a picture with this masked crusader.

I just love Ani's face in this one!

What a FUN Halloween so far! My intention is to take Aniston to as many parties as I possibly can! So if anyone knows of any fun parties in Rexburg, let me know!

DAY 793... Locks of Love

One Day 791, I called up a local beauty school with the intention of making my husband an appointment for a hair cut and making myself an appointment for a scalp treatment. It ended up going a little bit differently than planned. 

It went from this:

To this:

BEST THING EVER!

While sitting in the chair the girl who was cutting my hair asked if I was interested in donating to Lock of Love. Not something that I really ever intended on doing. I hadn't been growing out my hair for this purpose and I certainly didn't have a family member in mind to do this for like so many brave people. Without hesitation I said yes. I have A LOT of hair. You'll notice that while usually they only end up with 1 braid after the cutting, I had 4. So I'm hoping that multiple wigs can come out of my hair. Or if that's not the way it works, than 1 really awesome thick wig.

I kind of feel like after all the changes that have been occurring in my life, this was the perfect time for me to totally change my look. I haven't had hair this short since I was 14. So basically my hair looked boring and the same for 13 years. Even my husband likes it which is kind of a big deal because he was really worried. not that I wouldn't look good of course but that I wouldn't like it. He said he was actually surprised by how much he likes it. I am going to take that as a good thing.

15 inches is a lot of hair! But when it takes 45 minutes to blow dry and another hour or two to style, cutting that 15 inches off makes THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE! Seriously, everything is better! And part of me feels really great about donating my hair.

I felt as though perhaps I let my hair defined me for the past 5-8 years. And to me I think I finally realized that it doesn't and it shouldn't. Life is more than how awesome your hair looks. And I wasted so much time not realizing that. Looks is not everything!!!! I don't think I can say that enough. What is really important is that we like who we are and no matter what anyone else thinks, we are happy with ourselves. I feel that right now if my time to make changes and to take charge of my life. I may have waited too long, but I have a supportive husband and a beautiful daughter who are willing to help me and assist me in reaching my goals. I'm thankful for that because I know that that is more than most people have. I am so lucky to have Spencer and Aniston in my life. Aniston, PS, could care less about my hair. Secretly I was hoping she would be terrified of me... Oh well.

(Please excuse Ani's tongue... We had a discussion after taking this picture about the 101 reason we don't need to pose or act like Miley Cyrus)

DAY 792... U-Pick

After my little rant the other day about how Rexburg has NO pumpkin patches (still upset PS), an old friend invited us to a pumpkin patch in Idaho Falls with her. Without hesitation I accepted! It was such a GORGEOUS day today, the perfect day for a pumpkin patch adventure!

 Apparently this pumpkin patch is run by young men (not sure of their exact ages) and they plant the pumpkins and run the patch. LOVE it! Still... nothing like my awesome pumpkin patch I will someday have!

Ani enjoyed riding in the wagon... for about 5 minutes.

Ani loves chicken... for lunch that is. She asks for chicken everyday. She thought it was pretty fun that we called these animals chicken too. She even said "yum" when we showed them to her first. This child will never be a vegetarian. Haha!

 Another cute Ani outfit. I really want tall lacy socks to wear with my boots... of course Ani has them and I don't.

 Our annual family pumpkin patch photo! (Yes... 15 inches is missing from my hair... post to come soon).

 I'm not sure whether or not Ani enjoy the little straw maze...

 She got lost... a lot.

 Her face says it all. The train ride was pretty terrifying for her, but she made it all the way through without a single tear. Don't worry... I sat next to her. This train was NOT made for adults PS.

 My two loves!

 New fashion alert! The top of the diaper hanging out of her pants. Killer look. All the babies are doing it.

 My independent little lady roamed the patch like it was her own backyard.

 Can we talk about how most of the chickens looks like they had recently been in a cock fight? They poor birds were missing entire patches of feathers from their bodies, necks, tails.... pretty disturbing. Probably will have nightmares tonight about these scary birds.

 That's crazy right? Super super creepy!

 Daddy entertained himself and Ani with some high tossing fun...

 Seriously.... These two. Can't get enough of them!

Much more successful of a pumpkin patch trip than our attempt in Utah. So happy for an awesome friend who introduced us to this fun pumpkin patch!

Just for fun... Our pumpkin patch photos for the past 3 years!