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!