Sunny Side-Up...Halloween Edition!

Today is one of those days. It's a gray/murky day today. I woke-up to the sound of rain on the window and wanted nothing more than to curl up under the covers even tighter and snuggle up with Spencer. Unfortunately I couldn't do that, so I pulled myself out of bed and started the coffee pot.....
I had a very relaxing morning and over lunch I watched Grays Anatomy from last week with Bridget and Cristin (and it was crazy!) Then I got an absolutely delicious new drink from Starbucks! (which you will read about below) Tonight Spencer and I are carving pumpkins and beginning the construction of Halloween costumes for the party tomorrow night. It may be gray and cold outside, but i'm inside with my sweater, a hot drink and thinking about how everything is.....



Happy Halloween Everyone!


1. ALL HALLOWS EVE! - It's finally here! I can't wait to carve pumpkins tonight, party like a flamingo tomorrow and spend the day watching Scary movies and giving candy to all the little beggars on saturday! And of course I am SUPER excited to see my girls (Mia & Betty) dressed in their halloween get-ups. :)


2. Monster Cookie Ice Cream - Spencer and I found this amazing little beauty at the store this weekend and it was love at first bite! Cookie dough, M&M's, fudge, peanut butter, oy vey...... chock full of cookie goodness this ice cream is one BIG monster!


3. Collin the Monkey - Ok, seriously...my nephew is the cutest monkey ever... especially with his massive banana! haha, get your minds out of the gutter! We took photos this weekend of him and couldn't resist throwing him in his Halloween monkey outfit for a quick photo op. :)


4. Caramel Apple Spice - I got a Starbucks Caramel Apple Cidar today and DAMN! It is soooo tasty! I can't believe it took me so long to realize that this drink existed!


5. Eastwick I have no idea why I love this show so much. I guess it's my new guilty little pleasure, but nothing is better than coming home from class on tuesday nights and watching this show! Sex, Scandel and FABULOUS clothes! Last night's episode was so good I was sitting on the edge of my seat!


6. Beverages - I hope all of you fabulous ladies have an amazingly good time this weekend! Drink lots of beer, wine... whatever your choice may be... and party like a Rockstar! Or a witch, a vampire, a box of french fries...

~Hugs~
Jenni

I need a rake!

We have a LOT of trees in our yard. The entire backyard is lined in trees and we have one large tree that occupies a large portion of our front yard.
I love our trees for many reasons... the shade they provide, the privacy they allow us, the amazing sounds with the wind whips through the leaves and they shake their branches, the chipmunks and squirrels that constantly scurry about the yard and the beautiful colors as fall approaches.
That being said... Our trees matured MUCH quicker than the rest of the trees on the street. They are like that one girl in your 4th grade class that got boobs before anyone else! You just couldn't help but stare!

And this is the rest of the street.......

Insane right?

Our Own Houdini (x2)

My dogs are cute....

...really cute...

...when that cuteness combines.... its impossible to resist...

Yeah, I thought they were pretty darn cute too...until recently.
You see, they are still puppies. They still have an accident from time to time. We keep them in our backroom where they can't do any damage and put babygates up. They stay there during the day while we are at work. We put toys, water and a bed back there for them to take a nap in. It's not a bad place. Plenty of room to roam...

This has worked for months...until now...Last week we came home to this....

Notice...Mia is not in the backroom...and neither is Betty. They greeted us at the door! Gate still in tact, nothing fallen over, just no dogs are actually on the other side...

Now Mia...she can jump pretty high. You've all seen the photo.

so we aren't entirely suprised that she had jumped over it.
This one however.....

...she is QUITE a bit beefier! We just can't figure it out! We draped a slick sheet over it thinking that maybe they were clawing the holes to climb up and they got through again!

...so we gave up. I guess we're whipped, but now our girls get roam of the house while we are away.
Evil Genius? ...I'm starting to think so!

Sunny Side-Up!

It's rainy and cold and I would really like to just lie down on the floor right now and take a nap. Alas, that is not possible so I will sip my lovely Arnold Palmer and listen to The Holiday soundtrack to de-stress and relax away the work day.
It's thursday, so you know what that means!? Yup, it's time for the weekly......



1. A good butt-kicking about a year ago working out was my thing. I went everyday after work for a full hour! But then studying for the GRE, getting into school, buying a house and getting 2 puppies got in the way of my routine. (whew....that's a lot in just 1 year!) This week I decided it was time to get my butt back to the gym and get rid of the "cubicle 20" I have gained. And this is where the lovely Jillian Michaels has stepped in! Her 30-day-schred is RIDICULOUSLY hard. I did it a few months back when I lived in my apartment, but out of fear of sounding like an elephant rampage to my downstairs neighbor I totally held back when it came to jumping jacks or jumping rope. I did it for the first time yesterday in my living room full-out-no-holds-barred and I am SOOOOOOOOOO sore today!!!!!!! My goal is to be 20 lbs. lighter by Christmas...and then I will treat myself to a new mini-wardrobe!


2. A lunch-date Ok, so sticking a hamburger joint photo as my #2 right after I self-proclaim my new fitness style is a little bit redundent...but really i'm just putting down my lunchdate with Spencer. He picked me up from work and we went out for a lovely lunch together where we discussed babies and people who have them. (Don't get too excited kids, we're sticking with our puppies for now!!) I then re-filled my delicious Arnold Palmer and he drove me back to work, taking a quick sidetrack to the Dillards clearance store. (yeah, you heard it right! Dillards...Clearance..Store) and it's only 2 minutes from my house!!!!!


3. Regretsy Cristin at Living Greenlee directed me to this hoo-larious website today. Regretsy is not a joke people! These are real items that are listed on Etsy for sale! Just take a look at some of this stuff! soap made to look like poo, genetically-correct items, or knitted toilet paper! It's all here!


4. My nephew Collin! My sister and brother-in-law are coming into town this weekend and little Collin will be joining my mother, grandmother, Andi and I at my cousin Victoria's bridal tea. They said it's no men allowed...but they are making an exception for this little chub! Then on sunday i'll be taking some family photos of Andi, Jason and Collin for their christmas card! hmmmm...maybe I should have her take a few of me, Spencer and the girls so we can send those out for christmas too!


5. New bedding Spencer and I are on the look-out for a pretty new bedding ensemble to make our room feel a little bit homier. I'm kind of in love with this one from Restoration Hardware. Bonus-I got invited to the super secret sale and could get 20% off if I order now! :)


6. Halloween! I love seeing all of the ridiculous outfits people come up with! bwhahahahaha We're going to a Halloween party the night before Halloween at Spencer's co-worker's house and it's sure to be a great time! In the meantime we're going shopping for our dwarf and flamingo costume materials tomorrow...although, that gold thing she was wearing could be a nice second choice. hahahaha


7. A flamingo skirt! I've been going nuts trying to figure out how i'm going to make myself look like a flamingo and low and behold Maegan posts a tutorial on how to do just that!!!


8. Christmas Decorations I know that it's too early for Christmas but I can't wait to get a tree, put lights on our new home and buy stockings! We have some simple red ones right now because we haven't been able to find just the right ones. (and now we need them for Betty and Mia too!)


I am so glad the holidays are finally here! Does anyone have a favorite holiday tradition they can't wait for??

Have a wonderful week!
~Hugs~
Jenni

Branson, Mo.

It was the event of the year! 110 of Spencer’s relatives were invited from the old, to the newly born. We left early Saturday morning to get on the road for the long drive to Branson. But first, we had a day filled with puppies because we knew they would be lonely all weekend at the kennel.

Friday, October 16…
Spencer and I slept in until 11:00! I haven’t slept that long in a LONG time. We got up, showered and got the girls ready to go to the park. They played Frisbee, chased tennis balls and even romped with the big dogs filling the park with barks and shouts of “awww” from everyone who watched them. After we went home we baked some delicious chocolate chip cookies…

...and settled in for the night to watch some much-deserved television (it was the 2 hour premiere of Ugly Betty!! Which just happens to be one of my favorite shows!) After Ugly Betty we had some romping time on the bed before falling asleep….
Mia was watching Betty, who was on the floor, and was ready to pounce!

She laid down to get a closer look...

…and then Mia turned into a vampire!
Saturday, October 17…
We woke up at 6am, got ready and jumped in the car with the girls. We took the girls to the kennel where they proceeded to freak out! We filled out some paperwork and turned to walk toward the door, and then Mia ran out from behind the counter and broke our hearts in two! She was tugging against her leash as hard as she could so she could see us and her little face just screamed out, “noooooooooooooooo”. ……we couldn’t get that little face out of our minds the entire weekend!
We then drove up to the gas station to meet Spencer’s parents, brother-in-law and sister so we could follow one another to Branson. I got myself a yummy Cinnamon dolce latte, a breakfast burrito and settled in under the blanket for the 4 hour drive to Branson….

Our destination: The Honeysuckle Inn..

Along the way we saw all kinds of amazing sites!

..lots of cows…

A big metal barn selling fudge, pecans…. and produce?! ..hmmm I think I’ll pass….

It was pretty cold and rainy, so Spencer and I were snuggled up in our hoodies…

Grim Reaper? Nope…it’s just Spencer!

Gangsta.
After a few hours, we finally started to see the pretty Branson scenery!


Isn’t it beautiful!? I love the fall!

Spencer’s relatives lived in a HUGE house up the mountain from Tablerock Lake. I waned to stay up there for hours! The view was absolutely breathtaking!

Gorgeous, isn’t it? They own 3 separate lots so that they can have an un-interrupted view.

Spencer and I. <3

Zach & Sarah.

After meeting-and-greeting with some family members we all piled back into the car to head to the hotel and check-in. After a few wrong turns, and a little creative/scenic driving we made it!

Quaint, isn’t it?
We got ready and then it was time for the Dixie Stampede! …it was…different. There was so much food it was ridiculous, and you had to eat with your hands! Cheese bread, vegetable soup, an ENTIRE chicken, a hamsteak, a potato and corn-on-the-cob! I can’t imagine how much food is wasted in that place…. They didn’t allow photographs during the show, but here’s a little pre-show for you…

You sit in a big u-shape seating arena and the show happens in the center. Those people on the other side were cheering for the South. I was cheering for the North ☺.

Spencer didn’t want me to take his photo….

..he eventually gave in though. ☺
After I took those photos they told us no photography was allowed, so I had to put away the camera. The show was interesting… it told the story of how ponies once ran wild, and then the native Americans came (and danced around in neon colors) and then the war started. North vs. South… Definitly not historically accurate, but the 2 sides competed in races, trick horseback riding and my favorite…piglet and tiny pony races!!! The South won and the show ended in the craziest “I’m proud to be an American” way with light-up flag costumes and a giant screen featuring a close-up to a singing Dolly Parton! Like I said…interesting….
After the Dixie Stampede we went back to the hotel for some family time with board games and chat. We hung out and I was introduced to a few of the extended family by Spencer’s grandma Lesh. Afterward Zach, Sarah, Spencer and I went on an adventure of “the strip”. They really are like a wholesome Vegas! We found the backroads and got some yummy ice cream. I got the “Branson Turtle” with chocolate and caramel…which sent Zach into fits of laughter because Spencer’s nickname is Turtle…. Haha, we definitely left the “Wholesome Vegas” idea behind after that and couldn’t stop laughing as another woman yelled out to the ice cream man, “I’ll take a Branson Turtle!!”

Sunday, October 18…

I wish we could have spent another day there and rode go-carts, explored the toy museum and maybe caught “Spirit of the Dance” which I think would have been a FAR better show. ☺ I think we might have to take a vacation there in the spring!
On the way home we stopped by Osceola Cheese. A small place right off the highway where they sell 120 different varieties of homemade cheese! We got some cheese curds, garlic cheese and dill havarti cheese. We also took a photo with the mascot….


Hello! ☺

Sarah and Zach took a photo too!
When we got home we went and picked-up the girls and then spent the rest of the evening wearing them down! They were soooo wound-up!

Crazy Betty!!!!!

Spencer playing tug with Betty and her new toy.
So, that was our weekend. I’ve spent the last few days recuperating and playing with the girls. ☺ Hope you all enjoyed the little tour of Branson!

~Hugs~
Jenni

Missing in Action

I know, I know...I said i'd update on monday with my tour of Branson! Unfortunately, my life hit a whirlwind and I am going 100 miles per minute without an end in site...sooo the Branson tour will be going up first thing tomorrow morning! I know you are all super excited, right?!

Right now, i'm trying to figure out how I would like my new office to be set-up. I think I want a nice corner/wrap style desk. Maybe something like this?
via
I want it to stay nice and thin with a flat-screen monitor and thin-long desks are all in the $300 and up range!
Has anyone created a desk before? How did yours turn out?

I think Spencer and I are going to build it ourselves. We are turning into quite the little homemakers aren't we? In fact, he started framing in our basement! I'm going to have a workout room and I couldn't be more excited!!!!!

Miss you all!
~Hugs~
Jenni

PS-Mia and Betty have been pretty mischievous lately! You won't believe what they did! (although, you'll have to wait to find out!)

Our House

It's been a LONG week. I had a mid-term paper due in my class on wednesday so all week long i've been up until around 2:00 finishing it. I have today off because we are leaving for Spencer's big family reunion in Branson, Mo. and I must be exhausted because I just woke up....and it's 11:30!!!! Other than that we've just ben re-cooperating from the housewarming party last weekend. It was a major success! It was FREEZING here the morning of the party so I decided to go out and buy one of those big patio heaters that they usually have at restaurants. It was great! A lot of people hung out outside on the patio around the heater watching the dogs play and warming up with our soups, chili and spiced apple cidar. The family loved everything we had done with the house and got a chance to meet one another. (my mom finally met his!) and some of our friends ended up staying until 3am! Needless to say we had a bit of a hangover sunday morning...but it was nothing that a mcdonalds cheeseburger couldn't fix. :)
On friday, we ended up finishing up a lot of last minute things in the rooms and I took some pretty before and after photos for a slideshow we showed during the party. Here are a few of them. :)






I hope everyone has an amazing weekend! See you on monday with lots of exciting tales from the amazing city of Branson. :)
~Hugs~
Jenni