Big lights will inspire you, let's hear it for NEW YORK!

Guys! I'm so excited!

GUESS WHAT!

I'm going to New York City!

AHHHHHHHH!!!

In a month John and I are taking the train from DC up to NYC for a weekend with my friend Hilda and her hubbers to be Adam! I AM SO EXCITED! New York at Christmas time?!

I think I'm so excited A. because it's NYC duh, and B. because I haven't lived somewhere where you can just take a train to somewhere so cool! I mean I had gotten so used to living in the middle of no where Idaho that it didn't even dawn on me that NYC is 3 hrs away from me now! BAH!

I'm so excited for the lights and the window displays and the Christmas carols and EVERYTHING! We got a hotel in Madison Square Garden so we are right in Midtown! I can't wait!!!!

NEW YORK HERE I COME

... in a month ... after my cruise!

Central Park

Love

I think I might cry when I'm standing there looking at it in person.

It's just so beautiful!

Happy ALMOST Christmas Everyone!

and yes I'm listening to Christmas carols right now...

XOXOXO

The Excited Mrs.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This year Halloween was fun, but a bit anti-climatic. This is the first year in my entire life I haven't gone trick or treating in some form or another! SAD! I didn't get any candy. Being an adult.... ug. HAHA! Anyway we dressed up in my office, I used my witch costume from last year. When I got home I helped John become a Capitals player and we dressed Carlos up as a cow and handed out candy. It was pretty good. Hopefully next year we will be in our own place and will be able to decorate and really make up for this years lack of enthusiasm haha.

Carlos the Cow

MOOOOO

John as a Caps player and me as a Witch :)

Happy All Hallows Eve Ya'll

XOXO

The Mrs.

WilliamsBurg Weekend

Over Halloween weekend my lovely parents made the journey up the coast for a bit of fall fun! They stayed one night in our area and then made their way down the Shenandoah Valley to the little town of Colonial Williamsburg. John and I had to work on Friday but we drove down after to meet up with them and explore the birthplace of our country!

It was so much fun to spend time with my parents and we had some beautiful weather on Sunday to enjoy the gorgeous fall leaves!

My parents! I love them and miss them so much!

Headed into Colonial Williamsburg

At the Governors palace, it was huge and gorgeous.

You can totally tell that we came from British people...

Us under a cute little hedge fence in downtown Colonial Williamsburg

Jack O'lantern fun

This weekend we got to have quite a bit of fall fun! Our friends Ben and Heather invited us to go to dinner and a haunted forest with them on Friday night! In order to get to the Haunted forest we had to take this uber sketch road that was super dark and twisty with all these really tall old trees. That road dumped us at the ferry dock where we crossed the Potomac river on a ferry! It was kinda scary.... Anyway the Haunted woods was crazy busy. They had a big waiting area where you waited for your number to be called to go into the woods. While we were waiting we got to see the Springfield Dance team perform from Americas Got Talent. It was really crowded so we only caught glimpses but it was pretty cool!

The next day we went to Cox Farms to pick out pumpkins to carve with Ben and Heather! I got a 26 lb pumpkin to carve! It was huge and I had to make John carry it cause it was soooo heavy. We came back our house and pigged out on kettle corn, apple cider and Pisanos pizza while we carved our Pumpkins. It was a lot of fun hope you enjoy the pictures! I love fall and am so grateful we have such fun friends to do things with here in VA.

Sketchy Ferry...

Us with our pumpkins!

I could barely hold the thing up it was so huge!

My pumpkin is on the left and then I carved the two little ones in the middle, John carved the two on the far right :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

XOXO

The Mrs.

Fall Post Preview

As usual I have fallen dismally behind on updating my blog about everything that has been going on. Some day, hopefully like tomorrow night, I'll get around to uploading all my pictures and writing about the month of October. I feel like it totally flew by! I have to get caught up because in just a few short weeks John and I will be heading to the Caribbean for a cruise and I know I will have tons to post about for that! SO, Here is a preview of whats to come. This was taking down in Williamsburg this last weekend. Gorgeous no? I love Fall.

So many activities!

With falls immediate arrival I just was doing some digging and found some fun events in the Northern VA area! I can't wait to do all my favorite fall activities!

Fields of Fear at Cox Farms

Sep 30 - 29, Cox Farms

Recurring weekly on Friday, Saturday
Address: 15621 Braddock Road, Centreville, Virginia
Times: 7:30pm-11pm (last admission 10pm)
Phone: (703) 830-4121
Admission: See website for details
15621 Braddock Road, Centreville, Virginia. Fields of Fear is Cox Farms scary night-time adventure. Features Cornightmare, a walkthrough cornfield of terrors, Dark-Side hayride, a giant slide by torchlight, Firegrounds, Shopping, Food Games, and Entertainment. Not recommended for children less than 13 years of age. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Operating Hours: Sept 30 – October 30 2011: Fridays, Saturdays 7:30pm-11pm (last admission 10pm). Special Halloween Event October 30.

35th Annual City of Fairfax Fall Festival

Oct 8, Old Town Fairfax

Address: North Street, Fairfax, VA
Times: 10 AM to 5 PM
Phone: (703) 385-7858
Admission: FREE
The City of Fairfax would like to invite you to join in celebrating the 35th annual Fall Festival. What started out as a small market for artisans to display their wares has grown to a festival with over 400 arts, crafts, information, food & gourmet food vendors, children's activities and fabulous musical entertainment. This year's Fall Festival will be even bigger and better with the closing of North Street to bring the festival more into downtown Fairfax.

Fall Harvest Family Days

Oct 22 - 23, Mount Vernon Estate, Museum & Gardens

Recurring daily
Address: 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon, VA
Times: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone: (703) 780-2000
Admission: $15 adult, $7 children 6-11, Free for children 5 and under
Mount Vernon welcomes the autumn season with activities including wagon rides, wheat treading in the 16-sided barn, 18th-century dancing demonstrations, a straw bale maze, apple-roasting, corn husk doll making demonstrations and early-American music. Potomac River sightseeing cruises are half-price, courtesy of Spirit Cruises and the Potomac Riverboat Company.

Vienna Halloween Parade

Oct 26, Town of Vienna

Address: Maple Avenue and Branch Road, Vienna, VA
Times: 7pm
Admission: FREE
If you haven't been to the Vienna Halloween Parade before, you're in for a treat! Begun in the 1940s by the Vienna Businessman's Association (now the Vienna-Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce), the Parade was originally a gathering of local kids so they could show off their costumes to the Town of Vienna. Even now that the Parade draws big name entertainment and a crowd of ten of thousands, the costumed children are still a key element-- they gather at 6:30pm at Virginia Commerce Bank and lead the Parade down Maple Ave.

Autumn is HERE!

IT'S FALL!

Its my favorite time of year. I love the weather change, the blustery cold winds and the leaves. OH THE LEAVES! I love the vibrant oranges and fiery reds on the trees! I am so excited Fall is finally here and I am so happy to be living in one of the most BEAUTIFUL places to see the season change!

SO.....

In honor of it being my favorite season and favorite month and with my favorite holiday coming up I thought I would post my pins that have been inspiring me during this wonderful fall season.

I would love to find this and hike around the area! How gorgeous are those leaves...

WHAT a cute way to do little pumpkins! haha!

LOVE this wreath. The colors are so beautiful!

Someday when I have my house you better believe I will have tons of pumpkins out front! I love the trees and the moon painted on these pumpkins! So cute!

Hope you all are enjoying the most beautiful season as much as I am!

XOXO

The MRS.

Playing Catch Up

You guys, I'm turning into a grandma. Seriously I get home from work and I'm exhausted EVERY night. I barely have time to check my email, eat my dinner and go to the gym(i'm really bad at this one) before my eye lids collapse and I'm snoring away. I don't know how I ever survived college.... Anyway it was my goal for today that I would stay up late enough to put a little something together for anyone that still bothers to check my blog!

Fall has been so great/busy for John and I. We are both working a ton and with all the natural disasters we have been having life is far from boring. Recently(and I mean a few weeks ago) My second parents came into town and went to Dinner with John and I. Also recently, I got a bicycle. I haven't owned one since I was like 12? But there are so many great out door trails here John and I thought it would be a fun way to get out and see the area, and shed a few pounds. Now if only this blasted rain would stop so I could ride it....

John and I at Cheese Cake Factory, Me with Dave and Miss, John and I going for a Bike ride!

I also never updated after the Hurricane we had, which was a big fat nothing. By the end of the day I was soooo bored I made John take me out for ice cream. Luckily Baskin Robins was still open. WHEW, cause while everyone was having a meltdown I was craving chocolate and peanut butter. Seriously I can't wait to see people in the winter here. I have a feeling I will just be laughing at everyone that can't handle 1 snow flake while I'm used to 10 feet... Rexburg. ug. Anyway I've come to the determination that people in Virginia don't know how to handle weather...

John and I with our ice cream in the middle of a hurricane. Carlos playing with some branches that fell from a tree next door.

Well I have met my goal for the day and now I'm going to bed. Goodnight and hopefully I will post about our FL trip soon!

XOXO

The Mrs.

PS. Anyone else LOVING the new fall series premiers..... Cause I am.

I'm goin Brown

Well it is that time again. My hair is in dire need to be colored. And I'm goin dark again. Not as shockingly dark as I was a few years ago, but I'm going to be a brunette again. Blonde is just not my natural color any more and I hate how fake the blonde looks on me. Here are my inspirational pictures! What do you guys think?!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Apocalypse say what?

So I think I'm noticing a trend here....

5.9 Earthquake

Category 3 hurricane

Flash flooding 2 blocks from my office

Virginia is clearly going to be a way bigger adventure than I originally anticipated. Apocalypse say what? I'm going to start my food storage right about now....

xoxo

The Mrs.

Pounding DC pavement with a Bestie

HEY GUYS! Remember how I used to blog alllll the time.... I know I know I've been horrible for the past month. However I'm going to try and do a mass posting over the next couple hours or days and get caught up on our life here in VA. Probably about 2 weeks after us being here we headed into the city with one of my favorite old roomies from the college days that is living out here as well! Me and Ang had a blast catching up and it was so fun to go into the city!

City Girls on the Metro..

Hubble telescope! If you ever get to the opportunity to see the IMAX movie Hubble 3D you should totally go because this telescope is amazing!

Lincoln Memorial. Apparently he was a big deal.

I'm a Bill.... haha! The heart of the Capital of our Nation!

We had so much fun getting to hang out with Angela, her husband and his friend! We covered a lot of ground in DC too! We saw the Washington Monument, a couple of the Smithsonian's, Union Station and all the monuments along the Mall. My feet were SO sore that night I could barely walk. I had to ice them all night and the next morning just to make it to work on Monday!

Speaking of Work, it is going awesome for both John and I. We are both settling into our jobs nicely. I really enjoy working in a medical office. Sometimes its totally crazy but I love how fast it makes the day go. And I'm learning all new stuff so it makes work interesting!

Anyway that is all for this post but stay tuned for more!!

xoxo

THE MRS.

You know when its right!

Guys I just have to tell you, I am so grateful. John and I have been so blessed this year. We really have just been having everything go our way. I guess thats what happens when you do what your supposed to and work hard and never give up on what you truly want.

Within one week of us moving here I have found the most amazing job at the Virginia Spine Institute. It pays better than we could of hoped for, and it is less than 15 minutes from where we are living, AND it is directly across the street from Johns office. Can we say Lunch Date? Speaking of John his job is better than either of us could of predicted it would be too. The benefits are just unbelievable and he loves his office and all his new goodies!

Everything is seriously falling into place so perfectly and I know without a doubt that John and I are right where we are supposed to be here in Vienna. Life is so good. I have no worries, no fears and no doubts.

xoxo

One Satisfied Mrs.

Virginia Days

Well we have been here for officially 1 week and 3 days! I love it! There is so much to see and do here and It is absolutely gorgeous! So green and sooo many beautiful trees and gentle hilly roads that curve around! Gorgeous houses and awesome grocery stores. Virginia is certainly living up to my expectations!

I just wanted to update some pictures of the going ons of our day to day life this first week! John started his job with SAIC on August 1. He is loving life and loves all the benefits that go with a cush government job! This is SAIC's main head quarters in VA. John did orientation here though his office is closer to home yay!

This last Saturday was Tax Free Shopping weekend! YAY! What is not to love about buying things and not having to pay taxes on them?! So John and I hit up Nordstrom rack for some much needed therapeutic shopping. We picked up some great office clothes for both of us and I picked up this little bonus item. My first pair of Sperry's. And boy do I love them! They are SO comfortable! Tom who?

This next picture just cracks me up! I heard him kind of shuffling around in the bathroom and next thing I know I walk into the bathroom and Carlos has gotten himself stuck in the shower. I have NO clue how he did it but he was totally stuck! It was hilarious. He just kept sniffing our shampoo and body wash!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Rainy Days and Jerky Bags

Well on our last full day of driving across the country we started off in Ohio and made it almost to the Pennsylvania border before it started pouring down rain. And I don't meant just any afternoon heavy rain I mean 60+ mile an hour winds and rain sheets so heavy you don't have a wiper speed fast enough to keep up! This was a horrible storm! The thunder was so loud and close to us that it was rattling the car and John could feel the booms in the gas pedal. The lightning was so frequent and close to us that the hairs on my arms were on end! It was so scary! We finally out ran it and pulled off to get gas. WHEW! But in the 15 minutes it took us to fill up it caught up to us and we couldn't get out of it again. We ended up having to pull off in Somerset, PA and spend the night because it was so bad.

Carlos was freaking out the whole time because the thunder was so loud and the lightening was literally like someone putting a strobe light right in your face! He was so scared and so stressed out the whole time! So when we were in Somerset we had to leave him in the car while we ran into Ruby Tuesdays and got dinner. We left food and water for him in the car so he could he while we did. We were gone maybe 30 minutes? We come back and the poor little guy must have been so stressed out he had eaten an entire super sized bag of Jerky! It was sealed and so he bit his way through the side! It was so funny we couldn't even be mad! Poor guy couldn't poop for 3 days! He is doing much better now that we are getting settled in but I just had to post about that storm cause it was seriously NASTY!

xoxo

THE MRS.

Grizzly Bears and Geyser Pools OH MY!

Right after Johns graduation we had the opportunity to go up to a cabin his family rented in Island park and spend a few nights all together. We went to Yellowstone and the most awesome rodeo ever! We went to Old Faithful, tooonnnsss of Geyser pools, and even spotted some Elks.

Here are some pics from the weekend!

Old Faithful!

Geyser Pools. Grant got a piggy back ride.

They had the yummiest BBQ at this rodeo. It was awesome!

Our niece Emily won the 12 and under Cow race and our Brother-Inlaw won the 12 and over race! We totally came into town and took over the Rodeo.

It was a very nice weekend to just relax before our super long drive across the country to Virginia.

xoxo

THE MRS.

Graduation!

Look at that handsome graduate! I am so proud of my husband. He worked so hard this semester and did so good in all of his classes! He is such an inspiration to me to be better in all that I do. He works hard... plays hard... and it totally pays off! We are so excited to start life here in Virginia! Congrats HUBBY!

xoxo

THE MRS.

WinMeals, Lightning Bugs, & Chick-fil-A

This last week has been absolutely nuts! I wasn't even the one graduating(I graduated a year ago) and still it was crazy. WOW. Graduation was awesome Yellowstone with Johns family was Super Awesome. And now we are driving. Driving, driving, driving. Kinda Awesome. HAHA! Here is what I have been looking at lately...

These are Windmills. I pronounce them Win-meals. John likes to make fun of this. He says I spent too long in Idaho and Utah and have a funny accent when I say some things. I hope I lose my Utah accent soon. Every time we pass these babies I practice pronouncing it correctly.

Windmill. I got a little confused though and recently have started calling them winmills. I just can't win.

This little guy. Oh man. He has it SOOOO easy. All he does is sleep all day and eat our leftovers from the meals we get. Rough life. He is in doggie heaven. He spends all day sleeping on my lap and then all night barking at people in our hotel. The joys of traveling cross country with a puppy. But he is pretty cute. So, I'll keep him. Plus I kind of like that he is forced to cuddle with me in the car cause he has no where else to go.

So yesterday night we stopped first in Omaha, Nebraska then in Glenwood, Iowa to visit with two of Johns favorite families from his mission. It was nice to finally meet them all. John always talks about these two families. We went to dinner with the family in Omaha. YUM we went to this grill/brewery and they had the most amazing truffle fries and the best adult mac and cheese. YUMM. Roadtrip food has never been better!

Then we stayed with the family in Glenwood and it was so fun because they have a puppy too so carlos got to run around and play while we talked and caught up. ALSO, on the drive out to Glenwood from Omaha I was kinda tired, it was about 9pm and we had been driving since 9am. All the sudden out my window I saw a flash of light. So small and quick I swore it was a headlight bouncing off my window reflection. But then again and again I kept seeing this light, with and without traffic. Sure enough it was lightning bugs! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE lightning bugs. I think they are so fun and so interesting. Its like the Earths natural way of sparkling! Anyway I got super excited and freaked out and John just kind of laughed at me for being excited for bugs.

This is a picture of Glenwood. CRAZY. The exit we got off on 29 was the last one open due to flooding. There were so many fields underwater. and I don't mean like oh a puddle. Like Completely drowning in about 4-6 feet of standing water.

After driving through Iowa all day we finally saw a sign for Chick-fil-A. OMG YAY!!!!!!! It has been way too long since I had Chick-fil-A and let me tell you for someone traveling across the country that doesn't eat McDonalds or Burger King. You kind of go hungry. So we detoured off I-80 and drove 20 minutes through ghetto Illinois to some random mall and got me Chick-fil-A. Heaven in my mouth. It was so great and so worth the 20 minute detour.

Anyway It has been a crazy week so far. I need to find time to post about our trip to yellowstone and graduation and update my photo challenge! but that will have to wait till we are in VA. Which might be tomorrow night. Late tomorrow night. So I probably won't blog again till maybe Sunday. Sorry! It just depends on when our "pods" of stuff get to VA and unpacking and all the other fun stuff that goes along with moving. Joy.

Hope everyones summer plans are going swimmingly!

XOXO

THE MRS.

PERM!

SO recently I decided that with going back to the massive wave of Humidity of Southern life that I A) needed to get a haircut where it costs a good $100 less, and B) get a hairstyle that is more manageable. My solution? A Perm. I know it sounds so 1980 right? But Perms have come a long way since those crazy kinky curls of the 80's. They even dare I say it... have NON chemical perms! Cool huh? I was lucky enough to get in with an experienced stylist that came very highly recommended by many people. If your in the Rexburg area and need anything for your hair done go to Brodi. She ROCKS! (but make your appointment early she books 6 weeks in advance).

Anyway so I went and met with her to decide if my hair would hold a perm and what type of perm I should get. She suggested since we didn't know exactly how well my perm would hold that we try a loose curl and a non chemical perm so that way I wouldn't damage my hair and if we needed to do something stronger we could still do it. So we jumped in and 3 hours later my hair was gloriously curly! The great thing about a non chemical perm is you can still heat style it after putting the normal heat styling creams in and you can actually straighten your hair or curl it with a curling iron for more defined curls. Here are the two products I recommend for curly hair!

This is TIGI's CATWALK Curlesque. It is a tacky cream that helps keep moisture locked into your ends and defines your curls. Put this on when you style your curls.

This is Moroccan Oil treatment. IT IS FABULOUS. I've been using it for a little over a year and it just helps keep hair from being dry and definitely helps prevent split ends. Its definitely on the pricy side but one product I'm willing to pay for!

I tried to get a picture of the front and the back. I had my bangs cut and permed(but with a HUGE rod) to give them volume and then my hair just air dried and is a wavy curl. I love it! As I play around with styling it I will post more pictures!

xoxo

The Mrs.

BUSY TIMES

Oh my gosh you guys I have all these pictures and things to post about and I can barely catch my breath! I finally caught a moment to hop on today and help a friend figure some blog stuff out and figured I would let ya'll know that I'm still kickin' ! It has been so crazy the In-laws are here and we are packing! I'll try to update my photo challenge pictures later tonight but we will see! Anyway its off to another meal with the family! PS. if you want go find me on Pinterest and Instagram! My new two favorite things!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 18

BAHAHAH! Isn't this picture funny? Todays picture was Eyes, I took this picture cause It was so funny and then I got to thinking as I looked at it more and more... Isn't it so weird how animal eyes reflect so much light? Makes me wonder if they all have been taken over by aliens like in The Host??? What if were next? BAH!!!!!!!!!!

xoxo

The Mrs.

Day 17

Pretty huh? We have a glass coffee table in our living room currently and the Sun rises right outside our window and shines right through the edge of the coffee table every morning and makes this beautiful little rainbow pattern. I love little things like this rainbow that remind me of how intricate and perfect the world really was created!

Also I thought I'd just update for anyone new to my blog, I'm doing a 30 day photo challenge that can be found here: 30 day photo challenge. Just so new comers don't think I'm like super boring and weird for all these small random posts haha! I swear I'll start posting normal stuff again eventually after the move probably! Whew... only 12 more days to Virginia!

xoxo

The Mrs.