Hooray for Voting!

Today is the very first time I was able to vote for a president of the United States. 

I loved feeling like I actually have somewhat of a say in my country, and although I've really enjoyed learning about all the different views and policies and plans each candidate has for our country, I am so anxious for tonight/tomorrow morning when it is finally over and we get to see who is going to be our president for the next four years. 

So hooray for voting!

(and if you're in Provo, Einstein Bagels is giving away free bagels to those who have a voting sticker!)

Halloween 2012

I had a slightly better attitude about Halloween this year (you might remember last year's rant) mostly because Mr JP took it upon himself to make sure our costumes weren't thrown-together at the last minute. 

We heard the words "costume contest" and we delivered! My cousin and his cute wife threw a Halloween party this past weekend at their new house and although we only caught the very end of it,  it gave us a good excuse to go all-out with our costumes. 

We were Danny Zuko and Sandy from Grease!

Mr JP grew up watching the movie, and loves it, so I think a childhood dream was fulfilled as he was slicking his hair back. 

sidenote: we decided to be super accurate in our representations of the characters... so that meant a "pink ladies" jacket for me (see below) and a *gasp* cigarette for Mr JP -- BUT NOT TO SMOKE. Danny Zuko always has one behind his ear in the movie... so off to the gas station we went to purchase a pack of cigarettes... and I just about died with mortification/crisis of conscience. 

And the kind cashier helped us out by directing us toward the cheapest brand since we didn't have a clue what we were doing...

Anyways, it was a very successful Halloween. And I don't know if my hair will ever be the same!

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: