Halloween Haunts

With all the time I've had on my hands lately, I have been looking for creative outlets. My Mom was always super festive for any holiday. She would cover the house in nick-knacks the kids had made over the years and products of her creative genius. She would even go to lengths such as dying all the food red for Valentine's Day or green for St. Patrick's. Now that I'm a "home-maker," I thought it was time to start building my "festivity repertoire." Here are some of this year's decorations:

Simple leftover cardstock from a previous craft, colored by me

I saw books like this at Michael's (where I purchased the skull/raven) and they wanted around $12 for it. I thought to myself, "I could easily make that." Bit of black cardstock, tape and some tracing later, wah-la!

Had some left-over white canvas fabric and whipped these up in just a couple minutes.

The hat came pre-made, I just applied a bit of tape and learned to tie a floral bow from Youtube. Simple but fun!

Michael's had an awesome sale, which as mentioned before, is where I got a lot of my decorations. I just think this candlestick is kinda fun and adds a touch of "eery" to the room. 

This is probably what I'm most proud of. I found the picture online and had a blank canvas. I really haven't done any painting since High School, so the fact that I was able to create something I'm proud of after all this time is kinda an awesome win. 

I had a lot of fun making/arranging these "creations." I can't wait til I can be that crazy neighbor with the decked-out yard that all the neighbor kids want to hit up on their Trick-or-Treating route!

Tonight we're headed to "The 13th Floor," Colorado's scariest haunted house. Apparently it's been featured on things like news programs and the Discovery Channel. We're both a bit apprehensive, but also looking forward to spending time with other couples from our ward. Hopefully we can keep our wits about us!

First Denver Adventure

About a week ago we were finally able to get out and enjoy the Denver area a bit. Our time here has primarily been saturated with Jake working and me job hunting/watching Netflix. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those extroverts who can go on adventures by themselves... I really wish we could get a dog so I could go on walks or play at the park... We just don't have the room right now.

But back to the happy news! A couple weeks back we had talked about going to this place called Estes Park, which is supposedly the "gateway" to Rocky Mountain National Park. I got sick halfway there so we had to turn around. So about a week ago on Saturday, we were finally able to do something about our boring life. We didn't quite make it to Estes, being that it's an hour and a half drive one way, so we went for Lair O' the Bear park instead.

To kick our "Fun Day" off, I slowly awoke to the smell of bacon... yum! I opened my eyes and there's a big ole plate of it! (With eggs and toast-- attached to the arm of a doting husband.) I've always wanted someone to bring me breakfast in bed, so I was S.T.O.K.E.D!

After a lazy morning in bed, we packed our water bottles, Camelback, camera and power bars and jumped in the car! We spent the hour drive really enjoying the new alternative stations Jake had recently found (he's so excited about this, finally gets to listen to "his" music.) We got a little lost up the canyon, the Google Maps system isn't always the best out here, but it turned out we had found a back way, so it was all good!

As soon as we got out of the car, that wonderful mountain-fall smell washed over us. It was amazing, we were so excited we were actually doing this! Being that we aren't the most avid hikers, we had picked this spot for its easy winding trail along this river. Such a gorgeous place! My family used to go to a similar spot up Provo canyon every fall for a BBQ, so it brought back some really warm memories for me.

Here are a few pics I snapped along the way:

We reached the car just in time to get out of the rain. We ended up stopping in a teeny tiny little town called Morrison for lunch- we were starved! We were hungry prior to our hike and luckily had some of those power bars to hold us over. We stopped in this little corner burger joint where Jake got the classic and I got a Philly Cheesesteak. So delicious! We both ate contently, reflecting on the day and how great it was to spend time like this as a couple again. :)

The night ended with a viewing of "Meet the Mormons." If you don't know what that is, it's a documentary-type film that explains a bit about who we are (normal people) and what we believe (we are centered on Christ. If you'd like to learn more, click here.) 

All in all, a really, really, REALLY great day. :) So grateful for the opportunity to explore and reconnect with the hubs. :) Looking forward to many many more adventures.