Hanging In There Until I'm Hanging Ten...Hawaiian Style

This month my life has painfully paralleled the movie The Devil Wears Prada and Extreme Makeover-Home Edition.  I have been working soooo many hours trying to get the South Jordan Noah's building ready for grand opening.  I am exhausted and have come dangerously close to a nervous break down about 20 times.  I finally have a few moments to breath so I am looking for a plane ticket out of here.   John left  for Maui with his Bro last week and I have been desperately trying to wrap everything up ASAP so I can go meet up with them.  I am crossing my fingers that my next post will be of me laying on the beach sipping a pina colada.  

I am so thankful for everyone's blogs!  They allow me to get my girlie time in and catch up with my friends after being with construction dudes 24/7. 

Anyway, till next time... ALOHA!

Birthday wishes to my best gal pals! Especially Kimme b/c she is 24 today!

Kimme 

24 Today 10/07!!!

Ambitious* posh* creative* hilarious* fun* Dear Abby.. I mean Kimme* witty* captivating* determined* classy* funny* smart*great example* cute new mom* dog whisperer* compassionate* design star* so in vogue* silly* caring* fashionable*thoughtful* wise* great listener* sensational* artistic* spiritual* romantic.. to Chris :)* serviceable* encouraging* knowledgeable* gorgeous* sympathetic* barbie* philanthropic* Too. Far. Away...sigh.

 Aunt Cheryl 

(right of my cute cousin Romney)

 Um.. like 32 on 10/02:)

Thoughtful* bubbly* intelligent* aware* creative mom* baker* logical* adventurous* savvy* fabulous chef and cake maker* pretty blue eyes* nice* willing* role model* caring* all- a-

around* sophisticated* beautiful* wonderful* involved* lively* generous* cheerful* young at heart* second mom* friendly* helpful* spelling bee winner* super mom to 2 outstanding kids*

party planner* athletic*charitable*authentic* gifted*

Marci

 26 on 10/20... coming up!

Fun to talk to* true friend* uncensored* terrific at times tables* fun* kind *sensitive* outgoing* thoughtful* amazing eyelashes* tidy* serviceable* enthusiastic* meticulous* loyal* compassionate* organized* creative* faithful* modest* spunky* smart* sweet* stylish* splendid*refreshing* small town gal* so sweet to Andy* patient*obliging* righteous* beautiful beautician* crafty* life of the party* perfect* charitable*family oriented* fabulous*

Happy Haunting!

  I am loving the Halloween trends coming out this year!  Skulls, black crows, candy corn,  so many ghoulish delights!  My favorite decorating ideas are those you can do with a few odds and ends from home, a little spray paint, and an inexpensive trip to Target.   I think I am going to make these candles for a center piece on my table.  I am such a fan of fall decor you can eat!

Simply SKULLTASTIC!  Check out Z Gallerie and the Pottery Barn.   They make me want to be a rocker so I can decorate my house with these year round.

So much haunting to do... so little time.   

Need a door stop for trick-or-treaters?  This one is absolutely wicked! 

Stylize Your Scriptures!

 I've been excited to teach the scripture lesson in YW so I could accessorize some Books of Mormon for my Beehive class.  I am usually less motivated with scissors and scraps, but the girls are so grateful and cute they are easy to spoil.

I totally recommend pimping out your own B of M if you are having a hard time doing your daily study, b/c scriptures are seriously more spiritual when they are stylin':)

Friday Night at the State Fair

We had a fabulous time at the State Fair with Lindsay, Brian, and their soooo cute baby Brayden!  We did it all... petted a cow, won a cow, ate a like a cow.  It was pretty much an "utterly" perfect night!  

We gorged our selves with gyros, cracker jacks, dippin' dots, and pig ears.  Are you still on for the gym Aunt Cheryl?  I am going to need it!

Our hubbys played a few carny games

John and Brian paid two dollars too much to see the world's largest gator.

Linds and I pretended to win best in show.

 Great Night.  Thanks Lindsay and Brian!

Canyon GRANDE

Ahh, Breathtaking.  The canyon isn't bad either:)

This week for work John went to a small little hole in the ground called the Grand Canyon.  I've never been and I am very jealous of his little adventure.  I am so thankful for his wonderful job.  He works with great guys, gets to go on lots of road trips in the mountains, and he has every other Friday off. 

 Thanks for working hard babe!  I love you.

Andy's Sexy Construction Photos.

Wow, I seriously like to post this month.  I am just soooo dang tired from work lately and blogging makes me feel somewhat productive as I totally veg on the couch for like three hours.  Yeah, for real. sad.  I think I need a clocky to help me get up in the morning.

I just posted these photos to Andy's facebook.  He is so popular! I have to live vicarously through him b/c he has like 2 new friend requests a day!  Feel special if you are one! Lately, he has become pretty picky who he "allows" to be his friend.  We are chilling because John is out of town and we are thinking about going on a hot date later to race go-karts. 

 Above are some pictures of us posing in my hard hats last week.  How do you like my very PINK hat my work bought me?  I am such a pink advocate EXCEPT in this situation.   I never wear it and everyone asks why I don't when my coworker wears hers with such pride.  Whatever.  1st, it doesn't go well with my skin tone, 2nd, don't we stick out enough on the job sight without looking like Contstruction Barbie?  3rd, it totally says Mrs. G all over it!

Does anyone know if Romney has had her baby yet?  I want to know asap no matter what time of day.. or night! So pleeeaaase keep me posted:)  

Okay Okay, I will blog our Labor Day camping trip already:)  I seriously feel so hard core!  We camped 2 nights in the rain at Timpooneke campground and it was the best!  We hiked to the Timpanogos cave, played card games, roasted lots of mellows, and enjoyed the prettiest campground ever!   Thanks to our smart husbands rigging up a tarp we stayed relatively dry as we ate and cooked. 

 This slide show is annoying.  It took forever to post and it is so small it doesn't show how INCREDIBLE ADORABLE my nephews are.  Honestly, how are John and I supposed to compete!  Anyway, I can't wait to go again next year.   

P.S.  Dave, sorry you can't win me in Poker!  Maybe if you put some mula on the table you would be more motivated:)

Free falling..or floating

Um, don't worry,  I went paragliding for my 25th b-day! Kind of wild and crazy.  It was awesome seeing Draper and the beautiful mountains from the sky.  I thought it would be more of an adrenaline rush like skydiving, but is was more relaxing than anything.  I want John to get certified b/c it would be so much better to be strapped to my hot hubby than a stranger- just saying:)

  Thanks Aunt Cheryl for going with me.  You're the best!

Baby Cassius!

Here is baby Cash.  To. Die. For!  I can't wait to see him.  Congrats Kimme and Chris!  You two are going to make the best parents.  Now get blogging so me and everyone else can see more photos of your cute baby.

Nature Girl

This month we have spent as much time as possible in the great outdoors... camping, swimming, watching the meteor showers, and lots and lots of summer night walks.   Being outside totally takes my stress away (the mall used to do, but ever since I started getting paid to shop it's not the same).   This summer went too fast.  It is nice to think ski season is just around the corner and John is counting down the minutes to the first college football game.  So...to move to a completely different subject, Kimme had her baby!  She was in labor for like 42 hours and her baby was 9.6 pounds, OUCH.  So besides that, Chris said they are doing well and he is a cutie.  Pictures coming soon! 

  

Lift House Ladies

Every few months I gather with a bunch of women all brought together by a cute little ski shop called The Lift House (a tourist hot spot where wealthy East Coasters come and buy $700 animal print jackets that the locals make fun of). Anyway, I "worked" there while I finished up school at the U. Pictured above from left to right is Maddy- this girl's ski turns are beautiful. Mandy- Ski shop matriarch and owner. It has been in her family for like 40 years! Jerry-a hilarious grandma who has been working in the industry since the long wooden ski days-I miss her therapy sessions as we worked. Kristen-(in green) I met this amazing lady through my mom's good friend Lisa. They both fly refueling jets in the air force. She let me live with her a semester and I convinced her she needed to come work at the ski shop a few days a week to meet cute ski guys. The next two girls are my replacements after I decided to grow up and get an adult job (tear). I love these dinners. They are filled with yummy food, tons of funny stories, and just the right dose of girl power to keep me motivated until the next meeting of the ski shop sisterhood.

Flashback to 14.

This month has taken me back to my adolescent days of summer (except for those dang eye wrinkles that have started to appear and the fact that Otter Pops just aren't as good as they once were). Anyway, a few case in points:

My dad bought tickets for my sis and I to see American Idol in concert and I was way too excited. Confession, I never missed a show this season and now I stalk them all on You Tube. Brook and Jason previously were my favorite ( I love Brook's garment covering style and Jason reminds me of the beach). But, now after attending the concert I will concur with America. David Cook really is a rock star. Katelyn disagrees. Just ask, she'll tell you in her sweet little voice, "David Archuleta is sooo cute!"

John and I are in YM & YW so this month John spent a week on the Priest High Adventure rafting down the Snake River and I got to go up to girls camp.
The following is how we described our camps to each other...

Jessica: "Ohhh... It was like the most super spiritual experience of the summer. We did boondoggle, wore princess crowns, curlers, held hands around trees and sang songs. Then we finished it off with an amazing testimony meeting with lots of tears and hugs! I've never been to girls camp with so little drama. I love our Young Women!"

John:"It was totally awesome!! We rampaged each other's rafts like pirates and then threw each other into the water. Then we ate guy food and had the most fantastic view of the river as we peed in the wilderness... Check out all my bruises. " Nice, but was it spiritual? "Na, not at all, but it was way fun!"
Holy cow, Boys and girls are different!!!

They rafted all day down the river and then camped along the beach at night.

After seeing this picture of their yellow life jackets I think they should be the ones called the Beehives:)


I am so jealous of this little trip. Look at how pretty the scenery is.

Fishing with Zac....


While John was at high adventure I drove up to the cabin after work to hang out with Zac. I was going to weed but my bro said NO MORE WORKING, and made me go fishing. I caught a little guy too and tried to release, but he died. So sad:(
Note the rubber gloves he wears so he doesn't have to touch the worms. Ha ha.
After fishing, him and his friend Stephan made me lobster and steak.
No question, one of the best nights of the summer!