Halloween Spirit Cont... (pictures)

Here are all the pictures of my Halloween Spirit I was talking about.

DECOR:

Hanging ghosts (Cost= $2.50 total)

{Made from cotton balls taped together for the head and gauze for the rest. I already had cotton balls and tape, gauze was 2.50}

Bats (Cost= $.35 total)

Chair Cover ($2.50) & Spooky Tree ($1.00)

Witches Broom (Free) & Peeking Eyes ($1.00)

{The broom is made from a dead palm tree branch I found. I spray painted the stick part black with the spray paint I used on the tree and tied the leaves with the ribbon I already had}

I probably spent a total of $10 on these decorations but I still have leftover spray paint, ribbon and black paper to use for something else! It was a lot of fun and gave me something to do for a few days.

COSTUMES:

Brody decided to be Bill Cosby. I don't know much about him, but apparently he wears ugly sweaters and loafers with white socks. Well, when Brod found this afro wig at a thrift store and an ugly sweater to go with it, that's what he wanted to be. He already had loafers and white socks, so that was easy. We thought about painting his face brown, but thought that might not go over so well with some people.

Sydney gave me the idea to be a character from the movie Dodgeball. I liked this idea because it was basically free! Brody had some yellow b-ball shorts from high school and I had a yellow jersey he got me from Brazil, so it was perfect. I also had a red shirt to go underneath and a red headband. I just bought the material to make the label, the sweatband and the ball.

TREATS:

I made 4 new recipes for the first time and they all turned out pretty good, I must say! Hot apple cider, Halloween Fingers, Caramel Popcorn and Caramel Apples (with homemade caramel!) The fingers are made with butter, peanut butter and sugar (mmm healthy) with an almond slice for the fingernail and a pretzel in the middle for a bone.

I'll do another post later (after Halloween) about our Halloween activities

Halloween spirit

For some reason, I am really getting into the Halloween spirit this year. I've always liked Halloween, but I've never put much thought into any of the festivities. This year, maybe because of all the extra time on my hands, I've been busy conjuring up really cheap ways to make cute decorations (thank you google), planning costumes, treats, and carving pumpkins. Stay tuned for an update on all these things.

Also, I'm still accepting ideas for really cheap costume ideas for me and Brod. I haven't come up with anything good.

Question?

Why weren't prom dresses this cute when I was in high school?

{This is my little sister's friend/friend's little sister and her friends}

For those of you that don't have facebook...

Brody got accepted into the study abroad in the Czech Republic!! We'll be living in Prague for 6 weeks this coming spring. We are SOOOOO excited!!!

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Brody has applied to do a study abroad for 6 weeks next spring, and also for an internship for 3 months in the summer. He had to write a bunch of essays for the study abroad and they can only pick so many people, and he applied for a few internships in various locations, and is now waiting to hear back about whether or not he got it; just like a job. So we don't know what will happen, but we could be going somewhere really fun next year. We find out about the study abroad on Monday and who knows about the internships. I'm so excited to see what happens!!

Also, I got a job at a place called Home Instead Senior Care! I will take care of the elderly in their own house, if you couldn't gather that from the name. But I've also applied/interviewed with a few other places that will give me more and better hours and better pay, so I'm not really planning on this being my job for sure, but at least I have something for now!

In the meantime, we've been loving the nice weather, I feel like it's summer in Utah. We've been out on our mountain bikes once, but the trail wasn't nearly as fun as what we're used to. We'll just have to keep looking for something better. We also went to Oktoberfest with our friends last weekend in Tempe which was really fun. It was a great place to do some people watching and spend $5 for a hot dog- so $10 total for me and Brod (it was pretty good though- it was German style with loads of sour kraut. I loved it! But still, a hot dog for 5 dollars is ridiculous). There was a pretty bridge to look at and lots of entertainment. It was a fun night!

Also, we found an AWESOME park just 2 miles from our house. It's huge- 4 blocks wide and who knows how long! It has a ton of soccer fields, softball fields, volleyball nets, extreme playgrounds, probably 100 picnic tables and just really pretty scenery. It addition to all that, it also has.... a DOG PARK!! So we took Sal last night and it was pretty interesting. There were lots of dogs there and it was a big grassy area, so it was perfect for him. Or at least it should have been. He just sat there and stared at all the other dogs, drooling. It was so weird. So after 15 minutes, we left and the second we got home he started running in circles around our tiny 700 sq. ft. apartment. HELLO!! That's what the park was for!!!! Silly dog. We'll just have to take him back and get him used to it.

A tribute to Fall

Dear Fall,

I REALLY miss you. It doesn't seem right to put up all of your decorations and start thinking about what to dress up as for your famous holiday when I'm still wearing shorts and haven't even touched a jacket yet. (Although the weather IS getting much nicer here (85 for a high and 60 for a low) but I still feel like I should be wearing a jacket, at least

at night.) I never really thought I'd miss the cold weather you usually bring, because I loved the warmth of summer so much and I was always sad when it had to end, knowing there were some long cold months ahead of me. But now that I actually got what I wanted, I don't want it

anymore. I want you back in my life, and hopefully I'll get it someday soon. But until then, life goes on and we'll get used to it, at least for 2 years anyway.

{Disclaimer: Don't get me wrong- we are having a wonderful experience here in Arizona and I'm so grateful for this amazing opportunity. I wouldn't change it for anything. Not even for fall weather.}