Pumpkin Carving + Halloween Donuts

This is the best part about carving pumpkins in my opinion:

13.1

This weekend a bucket-list-item was fulfilled for me. 

I ran my first official half marathon!

It was an annual race know as the "Halloween Half"

and everyone is encouraged to run in some sort of costume. 

Some people really went all out... I'm talking full on face paint, props, the works. 

 I, on the other hand, knew my options were limited to something with black spandex because that's what I always run in in the mornings and really didn't want to change that because I'm superstitious. 

(I also don't double knot my running shoes...  I'm a superstitious freak it's fine. I'm knocking on wood constantly. )

Anyways, 

my costume options, therefore, were limited to either a skeleton or a cat. So I joined my friends who were also running and we were a band of cats (herd of cats? pack of cats?).

It was so much fun. 

And so freezing cold. 

I think the next one I run will be in the middle of Summer... my toes were completely NUMB when I started running!

I had a goal to finish the race in under 1 hour 45 minutes and I am happy to report that I met that goal! 

At the expense of my legs though... I am REALLY feeling it right now, and walking across campus today has been a slow hobbling adventure.

Pies?

I have had an intense craving lately for PIE!

(no, I'm not pregnant, thanks for asking)

But the craving isn't necessarily to eat a pie... I really really want to actually make a pie from scratch, crust and all. 

I don't know if it's because I recently re-discovered the pretty white pie dish someone gifted me and Mr JP for our wedding buried in a cupboard... or because Thanksgiving is coming up in a few weeks... or because I am running a half marathon on Saturday and the universe is against me... (that's probably it).

But this craving led me to googling "best pie recipes" and so far I've narrowed it down to these!

French Coconut Cream Pie

Butter Rum Cream Pie

Lemon Sour Cream Tart

&

Brown Sugar Pie

And this is the winner for the crust!

in my internet search for pie recipes I also stumbled upon this gem of a video, that somehow makes eating pies beautiful. 

It's really quite a lovely video, and a far more lovely depiction of pie-making than my experience probably will be :)

enjoy!

Oh, and if you have any delicious pie recipes up your sleeve, I'd love to know!

Weekend Recap:

This weekend was full of everything I wanted to do and nothing I needed to do haha. 

I had the privilege of attending my good friend's wedding dinner, sealing, and reception.

(the one I helped throw a bachelorette party for in this last post)

She met her now-husband at my wedding last year! Woohoo! Call me the matchmaker. I take far more credit for their marriage than I probably should :) I am so thrilled for them.

Her reception was in the neatest building in SLC, I attended a party there a couple years ago and it's still one of my favorite event spots.

After the wedding a group of us went and saw the movie Argo. Easily the best one I have seen in a while. Absolutely phenomenal.

**********

Saturday morning I attended a cooking class with my sister and mother in law at the cutest little sewing/craft/antique boutique shop on Center Street in Provo called "Harmony" I was dying. I wanted to buy everything in there. 

Photo Cred: Shayla

And then spent Saturday night making Halloween crafts with my sister (imagine hundreds of pom-pom balls and pipe cleaners... obviously we were making spiders...) and getting hooked to the shows "Nashville" and "Last Resort". 

They were both soo good. My motivation to continue doing my schoolwork has taken a serious dive in light of these new shows... haha.

*******

Happy Monday!

Becca's Bachelorette Party!

One of my favorite people in the whole world is getting married today!

Becca and I have been friends for our whole lives. Literally. 

We grew up just down the street from each other and remained friends through elementary, junior high, high school, and beyond! Becca is one of those people who even if you go a couple months without seeing her, as soon as you are back together it's like you've never missed a beat, and I can't say that about many people!

I am just so thrilled for her to begin this new chapter in her life, so earlier this week my good friend Beth and I threw Becca a "little black dress" themed bachelorette party! 

It was a blast, and so hilarious. And I think a very successful farewell to her single life haha. 

Charades:

We had to:

Apparently this is how we take pictures after being friends for 21 years:

Things I am Loving Right Now:

pulling my coats out of winter storage 

(can i get a hooray?! i still get giddy when i look at them on their coat rack)

when mr. jp informs me that "we really need to start planning what we're going to be for halloween, because something thrown together at the last minute really isn't going to cut it"

he then proceeded to ask if i would mind if he shaved his head so he can be "Bane" from Batman...

going 5 whole days without my nail polish chipping (5!)

weddings - i love love love weddings. everything about them. especially when the bride and groom-to-be met at mine and mr. jp's wedding! 

more about them later.

figuring out life plans. is there anything that brings more relief/satisfaction?

(by "life plans" i really only mean "life for the next 6 months" plans. but hey, i'll take what i can get)

teaching anatomy. i love it. it's been one of my absolute favorite parts of my undergrad experience. 

watching "downton abbey" with my mom. 

we haven't watched the newest episode yet because i've been studying for a test... and i am dying with anticipation. it is literally killing me slowly.

 when mr jp buys me sunflowers every time we go to costco... it's happened twice so far and i am determined to make it a permanent tradition.

oh, and all of these things too:

Angel's Landing

This weekend Mr JP and I decided to pretend we have a Fall break and joined my family and some friends down in St George! 

Besides eating way too much junk food, catching lizards that are stuck in window wells, and hot tubbing, we also woke up early this morning and drove to Zion National Park to hike the infamous Angel's Landing.

I've lived in Utah my whole life and had always wanted to hike it, and now I can check it off my bucket list! 

It was so much fun, and made even better because we hiked with the most entertaining group of people. 

(we even got shhh'd by a group of old people, who shhhh's people when you're on a hike?!)

And let me tell you, when you're scaling a cliff thousands of feet above the ground, there are few things more hilarious than watching someone who is afraid of heights.

Siblings!

Rise & Shout

I've been getting really into fall-y things lately and obviously that meant that I needed to attend a football game. 

So this past weekend Mr JP and I went to support our school and cheered our little hearts out. 

But here's the thing, I don't really understand what's going on in football that well... 

So one or two games a year fills that need in my life haha. 

I do really enjoy the games for other reasons though - the energy, the excitement, when we win, concessions (I could live off cotton candy), an excuse to get decked out in school attire (I love dressing up for just about anything...) but as for the actual football, not so much haha. I'm getting better though! Mr JP will explain different plays and strategies to me so I am slowly but surely catching on.

The Best DIY Project Ever

When we got married Mr JP brought quite a bit to the marriage. 

You know, things like love, support, his mattress, and a floor lamp. 

That I hated. 

It was ugly and didn't match anything in our apartment. 

Soooo I finally got around to making it cute and matchy to the rest of our apartment decor, and let me tell you, I really had to pull out my DIY skills for this one. 

I had to:

1) go to Lowe's

2) pick out the precise color of paint

3) have a worker mix it up for me

4) have a worker help me get all the other painting supplies I need

And then voila!

Before & After

This project is almost pinterest worthy don't you think? :) 

Obsessed.

Have any of you watched the TV series Revenge?

Oh. My. Goodness. 

Mr. JP and I are obsessed with it. 

The first season became available on Netflix recently and, having heard good things about it, we decided to give it a try. 

Fast forward five days: 

We're currently on episode 19 (there are 22 in the first season) and we set a DVR recording for the second season, which started last Sunday. 

We might have a little problem. 

Sleep, homework, exercise have all taken a backseat to watching Revenge haha. 

It's soo good. 

If you need a new TV show to watch (ha, yeah does anyone ever need one?) I would highly recommend it - especially if you want it to consume your life and fill up all your free time. 

Happy October!

Both Mr JP and myself have been literally counting down the days to colder weather. 

There are so many more wardrobe options! And we both suffer from something called cannot-stop-buying-new-coats-and-sweaters. 

It's a curse, truly.

 I love love love Fall outfits.

Not to mention the 20+ recipes I've pinned with pumpkin as the main ingredient and my affinity for flavored steamed milk from Starbucks... I say bring on the cold weather October!

This weekend Mr JP and I embarked on a scooter ride up the canyon to breath the autumn air and enjoy the gorgeous leave before they all fall to the ground!