Halloween Party

Last weekend, my good friend Brianne graduated and they threw a graduation/Halloween party that was super fun. Here is the evidence.

Heath & I went as Joy & Earl from the TV show, My Name is Earl.

Try to ignore the fact that my husband looks possessed. And notice the small details, like "the list" in his hands and the bubbalicious peeking out of my pocket. (He was supposed to be closing his eyes because Earl never is able to take a picture with his eyes open.)

We couldn't get the moustache to stick and ended up drawing it on, but check out those fake nails! They also made me completely handicapped. I couldn't do anything in them.

Britani as a devil and Ian as a black angel. So cute. I told Britani she should cut her hair like that. (Minus the red streaks and horns of course.)

Darshon, the butterfly queen. Her hair was my work of art. I think she looked amazing & beautiful.

Naters, uncostumed, but he gets credit for showing up because he was super sick. :(

Okay, somehow I didn't get any pictures of Brianne & Ryan. They dressed up as Rock Band characters and they looked ridiculously awesome. If anyone has any, please send them to me. Thanks!

My Bangs: A Brief History

There are few things in this life greater than getting your hair cut and colored and there are few people who do it better than Darcy.

Last week I went to Darcy after having spent the last few years going elsewhere for various reasons. (Moving out of state, trading hair for massage, etc) But I decided I needed Darcy again, and I am renewed in my belief that she is the best.

One of the great things is that Darcy knows me. She knows what I like and knows that I am willing to try new things and so she makes great suggestions for changes in my hair. My hair usually turns out best if I just let her do whatever she wants.

Last week she suggested bangs. Full bangs, not just the side sweeping kind.

Apparently full bangs are making a big comeback.

I don’t think I would have ever thought of requesting this style because the last time I had them was junior high in the early 90’s. And I am scarred as that was the era of the exploding bang. Carefully designed works of art, intricately styled, and making us look utterly ridiculous. (See exhibit A)

Okay, Go ahead and laugh, I know I have.

Though only in my dreams could I get my hair to be as big as my junior high best friend, Krisha. (sorry Krish but those are some pretty sweet bangs and wings!)


Well, I overcame this stigma and took the plunge. And to my surprise, this is the way my hair naturally wants to lay, straight forward. But, I really shouldn’t really have been surprised. Check out the evidence of my early days. (Exhibit B)

Cute as a button, I know.

There's a New Yarn Lady in Town

My Grandma Arnett is a world famous knitter. . . well, okay, maybe not world famous, but she is renowned in our family. For as long as I can remember, she always had a knitting or crocheting project in her purse. She has an entire closet dedicated to the stocking of yarn and there are several favorite family stories involving her storing yarn in bizarre places, like the washing machine. If you know my Grandma, or have even met her one time, chances are you have at least SOMETHING knitted or crocheted from her. Well, I thought that it would be a shame for me not to learn this talent from her as it is obviously something she loves. So, I requested a quick lesson. She taught me a few patterns and I worked on some dish cloths. I soon tired of those and wanted to move on to bigger projects. I am almost finished with a baby blanket for Dylan and have just begun one for Cali. I am still a beginner, but I hope to someday be as good as my Grandma. It is fun, relaxing, and extremely addicting. I am grateful that I was able to learn this from my wonderful Grandma as I aspire to be just like her someday. I can now be found with a yarn project in my purse and have admittedly spent an ENTIRE day unraveling a ball of yarn that was knotted up. Incidentally, the blanket on my lap in these pictures was a given to me from Grandma. :)

You Run?

One of the greatest dialogues ever spontaneously spoken occurred between my cousin Staci and me. Several months ago, I headed with Staci and her two children to San Diego to relax on the beach and frolic in the California sun. In preparation for this trip, I purchased a running skort that I planned on using as a swimsuit cover up. This basically consisted of lycra shorts with an attached short skirt on top of it. It is intended for running, but I loved it for a cover up because it was longer than traditional swim skirts and I really liked that it had the shorts built in. On the drive out to California, I told Staci about my new find and she thought it sounded perfect. So on a short pit-stop at Target to let the kids out of the car for awhile, she purchased her own pair.

Later, while at the beach, I got out my skort and was putting it on when I declared, "I've decided that I am going to actually wear these for running." Staci got excited about this statement and proclaimed, "I was thinking the SAME THING!" She then went on to recite all of the reasons why she thought this skort would be perfect for running in. As she went down her list, my eyes got wide with excitement, "You run?" I questioned. She cast her eyes downward to the sand and said ashamed, "No." My eyes followed hers downward as I sighed, "Yeah, me neither."

We instantly burst out laughing and Staci spewed blue Powerade all over the beach as we realized how ridiculous we were.

We might not run, but if we ever did, we know what we'll be wearing. . . .

Well, recently I have got out that skort and started running. Well more accurately jog-walking. It started because a massage client of mine has been coming in weekly in preparation for a marathon that she is going to run. Many moons ago, before my mission, I ran almost every day and really wanted to try and run a marathon. It never happened but it is on my life list of things I want to do. Well, this client inspired me and I realized that there is no reason why I can't start running and train for a marathon now. I have been taking it slow, but my goal is to be able to run the ½ marathon in Tempe in January and maybe run a full one sometime next year. It is a lofty goal, but I know that I am capable of it.

And I am proud to report, that the skort is just as perfect for running as we predicted it would be.